Service
Before a new pad gets any color, it needs a plan: how many pickleball courts fit, which way they run, where each net stands and where every 2-inch line lands. That plan gets agreed with you before any paint goes down.
Before / after photos coming
Signs it’s time
A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet, measured to the outside edges of its lines, but it needs more pad than that. USA Pickleball’s rulebook sets a minimum playing surface of 30 by 60 feet per court and recommends 34 by 64 feet for new construction and tournament play. Court builders call that extra margin overrun, and it is where players chase lobs and wide dinks without meeting a fence. On a finished pad, every foot of overrun is already paved, so the layout starts by fitting courts to the pad you have.
The rest of the plan is direction, nets and lines. USA Pickleball calls for outdoor courts to run north to south, so players aren’t looking straight into a morning or late-afternoon sun. Its rules set net posts 22 feet apart, inside face to inside face, and its court diagram recommends them 12 inches outside each sideline. Posts, fencing and lights need the same plan, so line that work up before any color goes down. The lines measure out from the net line: 7 feet to the outside of the kitchen (non-volley zone) line, 22 feet to the outside of the baseline.
The paving contractor has packed up and the pad is bare asphalt or concrete. Court count, orientation and post locations are easiest to settle now, before color coats and lines make every change a repaint.
Posts set before a plan exists decide where the court goes, and they may not suit the pad, the sun or the fence. With the layout settled first, each footing can go where the court needs it.
Pads get built to the lot, not always to court sizes, and a few feet decide whether a court fits. Fences, light poles, drains and angled corners all come out of the playing area you thought you had.
Courts laid along an east-west pad leave players at one end looking into a low sun. If the pad measures at least 60 feet north to south, the courts can turn across it and run north-south anyway.
Both put the runout in play. USA Pickleball recommends 34 by 64 feet per court for tournament play, and under Rule 25.A.9 a wheelchair player’s second bounce may land anywhere on the playing surface, not just inside the lines.
The process
Every court is different, but the order of an acrylic job isn’t. Here’s the usual sequence, start to finish.
A pickleball layout starts with the pad’s own numbers: its size edge to edge, whether its corners are square, how flat it is and which way it drains. Everything fixed counts too: fence posts, gates, light poles, drains and any post footings already in.
Each court aims for USA Pickleball’s recommended 34 by 64 foot playing area, with its 30 by 60 minimum as the floor, and runs north to south wherever the pad allows. USTA guidance cites an industry minimum of 8 feet between each baseline and the nearest fence or fixed object.
Court positions, line and color zones, net lines, post spots and center-strap points all get agreed with you before anything is marked on the pad. Posts, fencing and light poles have to fit around those same spots, so schedule that work once the pickleball layout is settled.
Coating makers want a cured, clean, dry pad. A flood test finds any spot that still holds water so it can be leveled, and the whole surface is washed. A concrete pad also gets the primer or adhesion promoter its coating system requires.
Acrylic resurfacer goes down first, then textured color coats in the scheme you chose. One maker’s spec wants air and surface at 50°F and rising, held there a full day before and after, with no rain falling or on the way.
Everything measures out from each net line: 7 feet to the outside of each kitchen line, 22 feet to the outside of each baseline. The sidelines sit 20 feet apart, outside edge to outside edge. Both diagonals should read 48 feet 4 inches, within 3/4 inch, before any tape goes down.
Each line is masked to 2 inches and its tape edges sealed with clear line primer, as line-paint makers specify, then painted with textured line paint in one color that contrasts with everything it crosses. Once the tape is off, recheck each kitchen line: 7 feet, within 1/8 inch.
The details
01Residential
A backyard pad usually holds one court, so the question is how well it fits. At 34 by 64 feet or more, it gets the room USA Pickleball recommends for new courts; at 30 by 60 it still meets the minimum. Aim it north to south if the pad allows. A portable net needs no footings; permanent posts need their spots settled before any color goes down. If someone in the house still plays tennis, USTA guidance suggests blended service-box lines for short-court tennis.
02Commercial
A club, school, HOA or township planning a row of pickleball courts should have the board settle the layout before any digging, paving or painting starts. Settle each court at USA Pickleball’s 34 by 64 foot recommendation where the pad allows, mark where posts and center straps go, and place gates so players reach their court without crossing another. Planning a show court? The rulebook recommends 50 by 80 feet for a stadium court.
FAQ
Start with the playing area each court needs. USA Pickleball sets a 30 by 60 foot minimum per court and recommends 34 by 64 for new construction. A 60 by 120 foot pad holds four at the minimum, two across and two deep; at the recommended size, two side by side need more than 60 feet of width. Gates, poles and angled fence corners take space too, so call Bill at 215-251-2984 with your measurements.
North to south, wherever the pad allows. USA Pickleball’s construction guidance says outdoor courts should run north-south so players aren’t looking directly into the sun during morning or late-afternoon play, which it calls a common safety hazard. If your pad runs east to west, measure it north to south: at 60 feet or more, the courts can turn across it, and 64 gives each the recommended length.
Where each pickleball court will sit and which way it runs, before they grade, so the pad fits the courts rather than the reverse. One coating maker’s guide asks for new asphalt built to ASBA guidelines, varying no more than 1/8 inch in 10 feet under a straightedge, sloped 1 inch in 10 feet in one plane, and cured at least 14 days before coating. Another maker asks 30 days for new concrete. Post footings belong where the court layout puts them.
On the net line, 22 feet apart from inside face to inside face, within an inch either way, under USA Pickleball’s rules, which also cap post diameter at 3 inches. Its court diagram recommends posts 12 inches outside each sideline. Settle those spots and the center-strap point before color goes down, and set permanent posts early, since digging beside a fresh surface can damage it. A portable net needs no footings at all.
Yes. The rulebook governs line color, not court color: every line 2 inches wide, all one color, clearly contrasting with the court and the playing surface around it. USA Pickleball’s own construction diagram shows the kitchen in a third color. If you do the same, pick a line color that reads clearly against all three: kitchen, court and surround.