A pickleball court looks a little like a small tennis court, but the dimensions and markings are specific to pickleball.

Understanding the layout also makes the game much easier to understand.

Official Pickleball Court Size

According to USA Pickleball's court construction guidance, a regulation pickleball court measures:

20 feet wide × 44 feet long

That's approximately:

6.10 metres × 13.41 metres

The same court dimensions are used for singles and doubles.

What Is the Kitchen?

The most distinctive part of a pickleball court is the non-volley zone.

Almost everybody calls it the kitchen.

It extends 7 feet — approximately 2.13 metres — from the net on each side.

Players cannot volley while standing in this zone.

The kitchen is one of the reasons pickleball develops such interesting close-range rallies. You can't simply stand directly at the net and smash every ball.

Service Courts

Behind the kitchen, each side is divided into a left and right service court.

Serves are hit diagonally into the opponent's service area.

Once a rally is underway and the two-bounce requirement has been satisfied, players can use the entire court.

How Much Space Do You Really Need?

The painted court itself is 20 × 44 feet, but you need additional room around it to play safely.

USA Pickleball recommends a total playing surface of around 30 × 60 feet as an ideal minimum area.

That extra space allows players to move behind the baseline and outside the sidelines.

Can You Play Pickleball on a Tennis Court?

Yes.

Pickleball is frequently played on adapted tennis courts or other suitable hard surfaces.

Temporary lines and portable nets make it possible to create pickleball courts without constructing a completely new facility.

And that's one of the reasons the sport can grow so quickly.

You don't always need a new stadium.

Sometimes you just need a paddle, a ball, a net and enough lines to know where the kitchen begins.