Pickleball
Authority: USA Pickleball §2.A
An official regulation pickleball court measures 20 feet wide by 44 feet long for both singles and doubles. The non-volley zone (kitchen) extends 7 feet from the net on both sides. Net height is 36 inches at sidelines and 34 inches at center.
| Parameter / Specification | Standard Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Total Court Width | 20 | ft (6.10 m) |
| Total Court Length | 44 | ft (13.41 m) |
| Non-Volley Zone (Kitchen) Depth | 7 | ft (2.13 m) |
| Net Height at Posts | 36 | in (91.4 cm) |
| Net Height at Center Strap | 34 | in (86.4 cm) |
Why the Court Is Exactly the Size of a Badminton Court
Pickleball's 20-by-44-foot footprint is not a coincidence: the game was invented in the summer of 1965 when Joel Pritchard and his neighbors, unable to find a shuttlecock for a badminton game at Pritchard's Bainbridge Island, Washington summer home, improvised with a perforated ball and paddles on an existing badminton court, lowering the net to compensate. That backyard improvisation became the sport's permanent court standard -- pickleball courts today are built to the same dimensions as a doubles badminton court rather than to any newly designed layout.
This shared ancestry is why pickleball courts are commonly painted onto or converted from existing tennis courts, which comfortably fit multiple pickleball courts within their boundary lines.
The Non-Volley Zone ("Kitchen")
The 7-foot no-volley zone extending from the net on each side is nicknamed "the kitchen," a name most commonly traced to the old expression about staying out of the kitchen -- the zone is an area players are meant to avoid lingering in, since standing inside it and volleying the ball (hitting it out of the air before it bounces) is a fault. The rule exists to prevent players from crowding the net and smashing every ball out of the air, which would turn rallies into a contest of who can stand closest to the net rather than a longer exchange of shots.
Because the kitchen spans the full width of the court on both sides of the net, it's one of the sport's most distinctive features compared to the racket sports it borrowed its court and equipment from.