How Long Is a Pickleball Court? (44 Feet, Explained)

A pickleball court is 44 feet (13.41 m) long and 20 feet (6.10 m) wide, the same for singles and doubles, under Rule 3.A.1 of USA Pickleball’s 2026 Official Rulebook. Measurements run to the outside edge of the lines (Rule 3.A.2). To actually play on it, you need more room: the minimum playing surface is 60 feet long.

Those 44 feet break into four zones. Knowing them makes it easy to tape lines on a driveway or check whether a club court was painted right.

How long is a pickleball court, zone by zone?

From one baseline to the other, a court runs 15 ft of service court, 7 ft of non-volley zone, the net, another 7 ft of non-volley zone, then 15 ft of service court. That’s 15 + 7 + 7 + 15 = 44.

The kitchen lines belong to the kitchen (Rule 3.A.4.c), so a foot on the line counts as inside it. Our dink explainer shows why that 7-foot strip shapes the whole game. For measuring and adjusting the net, see our pickleball net height guide.

How far is the kitchen line from the baseline?

Fifteen feet. Subtract the 7-foot non-volley zone from the 22 feet between the net and each baseline and you get the service court depth: 22 − 7 = 15. That’s the distance a serve has to clear past the kitchen line, since a serve landing on the kitchen line is out (Rule 8.C).

How many square feet is a pickleball court?

The painted court is 880 sq ft (20 × 44). The 30 × 60 ft minimum playing surface in Rule 3.A.3 is 1,800 sq ft, and the 34 × 64 ft size the rulebook recommends for new construction is 2,176 sq ft. In other words, the run-off around a regulation court takes up more ground than the court itself: 920 sq ft at the minimum, 1,296 at the new-build size.

How much total space does a pickleball court need?

Rule 3.A.3 sets a 30 × 60 ft minimum playing surface and recommends larger areas for new construction, tournaments and stadium courts. The run-off columns are our math: subtract the court and split what’s left between the two ends or sides.

Eight feet behind the baseline works for rec play but gets tight on lobs. If a fence sits at exactly 60 feet, the player backing up for an overhead will find it before the ball does.

Common court layout mistakes

Three errors show up again and again on DIY and repainted courts. The first is measuring to the inside of the lines. Rule 3.A.2 measures to the outside edge, so the 2-inch lines sit inside the 44 × 20 ft rectangle.

The second is running the centerline through the kitchen; it stops at the non-volley zone line. The third is setting portable net posts too far apart. The rulebook wants them 22 ft apart, inside to inside, which puts each post 1 ft outside a sideline.

How wide is a pickleball court?

Twenty feet. The centerline splits each end into two 10-foot service courts, but it only runs from the kitchen line to the baseline (Rule 3.A.4.d). Inside the kitchen there’s no centerline on a standard court.

Is a pickleball court the same length for singles and doubles?

Yes. Tennis narrows from 36 to 27 feet for singles, but pickleball uses the same 20 × 44 ft rectangle for both (Rule 3.A.1). Singles players just cover all of it.

The half-court variant in Rule 14.B, mini-singles, also uses the standard court and adds a line extending the centerline through each kitchen. It’s the official version of what most players call skinny singles.

How does it compare with tennis and badminton?

A pickleball court is the same length as a doubles badminton court: the BWF’s Laws of Badminton set 13.40 m by 6.10 m, versus 13.41 by 6.10 for pickleball, a rounding difference. A tennis court is 78 ft (23.77 m) long under the ITF’s 2026 Rules of Tennis, so pickleball covers about 56% of its length.

How many pickleball courts fit on a tennis court?

Four. A standard tennis enclosure measures 60 × 120 ft, which follows the ITF’s recommended run-off of 21 ft behind each baseline and 12 ft at each side of a 36 × 78 ft doubles court. Four of USA Pickleball’s 30 × 60 ft minimum playing surfaces tile it exactly in a 2 × 2 grid. At the 34 × 64 ft new-construction size, four won’t fit without sharing run-off.

Will a pickleball court fit in my backyard?

Only if you have a flat, clear area of at least 30 × 60 ft, the rulebook minimum. Measure width first: 60 ft of length is easier to find than 30 ft of width with no fence, shed or slope in the way.

Short on space? You can still mark the full 20 × 44 ft court on a smaller pad for casual games; you’ll just have less than 8 ft to chase lobs. Either way, square the corners before you paint: a true 20 × 44 rectangle has diagonals of 48.33 ft (the square root of 20² + 44²). If both diagonals match, your layout is square, and the full rule text is in the 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook.