PICKLEBALL

Pickleball Court Sizing & Orientation

Regulation pickleball courts are a minimum of 30’ x 60’, with 34’ x 64’ dimensions preferred. The in-bounds area is measured at 20’ x 44’ with the remainder of the space along the perimeter allowing for out-of-bounds. We often build courts as small as 30’ x 50’ (non-regulation) if space or budget dictate a smaller layout to be utilized. A North to South orientation is preferred when possible in order to minimize the amount of direct sunlight in each player’s eyes.

Acrylic

An acrylic painted coating is the traditional and current approved tournament pickleball surface and preferred by competitive players. The acrylic coating is applied on top of the concrete slab to improves traction & ball bounce. It also helps smooth over any minor imperfections (or saw cut joints) in the concrete slab.

Post tension slabs (more expensive than rebar slabs) are often preferred when opting for an acrylic finish to prevent cracking in the slab over time. Otherwise, a rebar slab can also be utilized, however crack repair can be expected. Most acrylic courts in the Intermountain West have a 3 – 5 year lifespan before they need to be re-surfaced.

Tiles

SnapSports was the first manufacturer to create a pickleball specific surface and is the current market leader. The SnapSports “PickleGrip” is the premier modular (tile) pickleball surface in the industry today.

Historically, tiles or a modular outdoor surfaces provided poor play for pickleball due to the “skidding” or low/fast ball bounce. However, in the last 5 years the tiles have come a long way and have several advantages over a traditional acrylic coating.

First, the SnapSports Picklegrip has a 16 year limited warranty. This is 3 -5x the expected lifespan of an acrylic coating.

Second, the SnapSports Picklegrip offers increased cushion and safety in comparison to acrylic. It also offers increased traction (particularly when wet) and drains easily.

Lastly, PickleGrip is often preferred when the court is designed for multi-sport use. The increased cushioning allows for a higher performing surface for nearly every other sport (including basketball). It is also much safer for small children and more resilient to bikes/scooters etc.

Court Construction

Once the sizing and placement of the court are established the first step of construction is the preparation for the concrete slab. Here, we remove all sod and cap any sprinklers (if needed) and level the area to our specifications. Footings are also dug at this stage in preparation for the pickleball net posts, lighting, fencing, etc. Next, the court area is framed and a road base is brought in and compacted to our final grade (1% slope). At this point the rebar or post-tension cables are utilized to provide integrity to the slab. Finally, the concrete is poured and leveled.

Once the concrete is poured the fun part begins! We now can install the selected court surface (acrylic or tiles). If an acrylic coating is being applied the concrete needs to cure for 30 – 45 days. If tiles are being installed we can begin work within a few days! The components (nets, lights, fencing, etc) are also installed at this time in conjunction with the surfacing. Once the acrylic coating (or the painted lines on the tile surfacing) has fully cured (48 – 72 hours) the court is then ready for play!