Padel Court Guide: Dimensions, Construction, Costs

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Whether you&#;re looking to up your game by practicing at home, or create your own padel club to share your love of the sport, building high quality courts is a must. Both privately owned and publicly accessible courts should meet certain requirements, but also be of a particular standard to facilitate enjoyable and competitive play.

To the untrained eye, padel courts are quite similar to those used for playing tennis. However, there are several key differences to note.

In this article, we&#;ll guide you through the essential factors to keep in mind when building a court, such as the padel court dimensions, features, aspects of construction, and costs.

What Is a Padel Court?

A padel court is the playing ground for the sport of padel. Much like tennis, padel courts are rectangular and have a net in the middle. However, courts made for padel are surrounded by walls &#; often made of tempered glass and metal &#; and they are a fourth to a third smaller than a tennis court.

You can go through all the important aspects of padel courts in detail below, which you can then apply when building your own.

Padel Court Dimensions

A padel court measures 10 m in width and 20 m in length. It should have a clearance of at least 0.5 m on each side, making its total minimum dimensions 11 x 21 m, or 231 m2.

In terms of height, indoors courts or those covered with a shelter should have a ceiling height at least 6 m tall. However, heights of at least 8 m are more desirable, allowing for advanced game play and heightened lobs. The walls that surround each individual court are 4 m at their highest point &#; 3 m from the floor, with a 1 m metal fence on the top, which is not meant for rebounds. The walls can be stepped down in meter increments to a height of 2 m towards the center of the court.

The length of this court is divided into half by a net. There are service lines present at 6.95 m from the net, that run parallel to it. The net itself should be 10 m long, at a maximum height of 92 cm on the sides and 88 cm in the center.

It is also important to avoid obstructions on and around the court to ensure a smooth game.

These dimensions are set and recommended by the International Padel Federation, and must be upheld should you want to make your courts available to the public &#; particularly for competitions.

Features

When building a padel court, the following features are essential:

• Walls and framework: Padel courts are surrounded by walls that are usually made of tempered or toughened glass that is typically 10-12 mm thick. However, any material that doesn&#;t affect the way a padel ball bounces works as well. Above the glass, and toward the center of the court, steel or aluminium mesh fencing complete the surroundings.
• Net: The net is present exactly at the half-line on the court and is hung tightly on both sides, in a way that it touches the base of the court.
• Floor: The floor, typically a concrete foundation, should be at an equal level and not contain any divots or holes.
• Ground cover: The ground covering must be a porous and synthetic material that is designed to sustain heavy wear and tear. Typically some type of artificial turf is used &#; be it fibrillated or monofilament artificial grass, or textured artificial grass as used in the World Padel Tour. Silica sand is added to the turf to reduce friction and help with the player&#;s movement.
• Lines: All the lines must be done accurately and be clearly visible on the court.
• Lighting: For indoor courts or nighttime playing, there should be sufficient lighting.

Padel Court Construction

Like any good construction, padel courts are built from the ground up. Having solid foundations on which to build your court is a must.

It is equally important to find the right company. Be sure to hire reliable professionals who will stick to budget, deliver the court as detailed within their plans, and build it according to official requirements set by the IPF.

Once you&#;ve decided on which company to work with, all that&#;s left for you to do is make the decisions regarding configurations, materials and colors. Ultimately, these come down to personal preference and your budget.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Courts

The first key decision when building a padel court is determining whether the court will be indoors or out. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and can save you money in some ways, while being more expensive in others.

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Since they aren&#;t exposed to the weather, indoor courts tend to require less maintenance. Not being outdoors provides the additional benefits of using some cheaper materials &#; such as thinner glass, as heat retention is not an issue &#; and attracting players year round, regardless of the weather. However, indoor courts can require a more expensive upfront cost when building and kitting out an entire facility.

On the other hand, outdoor courts can be more basic in their features, yet they typically require more sand to be filled and raked into the artificial turf on a more regular basis. While the initial outlay may not be as much, the costs involved in maintaining the court could be higher.

Other Considerations When Building a Padel Court

In addition to whether you want an indoor or outdoor court, building a padel tennis court involves many considerations. Depending on the kind of court and your intended use, you might also want to consider the following:

• The lighting and acoustics should be beneficial to the players, as well as the audiences, without being overbearing.
• Building seating around the court for spectators can also add to the value of the court.
• If you&#;re building a club, providing other services like change rooms, a gym, lockers and food stands can help attract more people.
• Keep aspects such as usage, pricing, occupants, regulations and maintenance in mind.
• If you&#;re not using glass, determine suitably neutral colors for the walls so that they do not cause interruptions in the sport. Grey is usually a good choice since it does not alter the players&#; depth perception.

Padel Court Costs

Building a court isn&#;t cheap. There are many expenses involved in installing, owning, and maintaining a padel court. Even the cost of construction itself isn&#;t straight forward, because there are many factors that will impact the price.

While we&#;ve seen entry-level installations advertised from &#;25,000 ($27,500 USD), there&#;s no way to give an exact figure on how much a court is going to cost. The price of a Padel court is normally depending on how many you are planning to acquire and install. 

However, some of the factors that will impact the cost of building a padel court include:

• Location: The price of labor in the city in which you want to build, and the availability of both companies who specialize in building padel courts and the materials needed will all impact your budget.
• Preexisting infrastructure: Groundworks can be a huge cost, depending on the type of ground and whether any unforeseen issues arise. A pre-laid slab will typically cut costs.
• Indoor vs outdoor: Indoor courts require high ceilings and good lighting, but usually require less maintenance.
• Building materials: Some building materials might more than others, such as thicker glass and higher-quality textured artificial turf.
• Permits: Different locations have different regulations. Make sure you have a permit in place so that you can go about the process of owning and operating the court.
• Maintenance: Building a court isn&#;t a one and done affair. Maintaining the court is also important to ensure its quality and durability. The weather means that indoor courts are usually less expensive to maintain than outdoor ones, however other factors such as surface materials, and frequency and level of usage will also impact how often it needs to be maintained.

Start Playing!

Through this guide, we&#;ve taken you through everything you need to know about a padel court, including its dimensions, features, costs, and construction, as well as things to consider when building a court. All that&#;s left is to start building, or find a court and start playing!

Are you trying to find the best courts to play on in your area? Are you building your own?
Let us know more about your project contact us at [ protected]. We are happy to make you an individual offer.

Will it help your sports or tennis club?

Whether you have an existing sports facility or tennis club if your aim is to get more people through the doors, it will almost certainly help! The numbers generally surprise most clubs and you roughly get 180-200 players per week per padel court, providing you are doing a good job of renting the courts. But if you do want the best chance of being successful when build padel courts, here are a few considerations:

Location

This is a crucial decision, both in terms of where in your club to put the courts and the direction/space it has. If you put only one padel court tucked away at the back of the club where nobody can see it, then it makes sense it is more difficult for you to get it busy. Padel is a more sociable sport than most, so the best place is within viewing distance of the café/clubhouse. Players bring their friends, families often play together and so it will benefit the club to have it in that location.

When it comes to the direction of the padel court, North-South facing is even more important than for tennis courts, owing to the fact that the back walls are glass. You could put a fabric across the back like tennis, but that completely defeats the purpose of having a glass court in the first place. We would also recommend not having it backing on to the car park. There is nothing worse than playing and trying to see the ball with hundreds of sun reflections shining at you from behind the court.

Give space around your court if you can. For official tournaments 2metres between courts is ideal, but even if you will not host those tournaments it is a good amount of space for people to have their equipment and change ends etc.

On a side note, you can actually get netting to go around the top of the fence that will stop balls going out. We would recommend this if you are on the perimeter of your club or next to a café/car park etc. The court manufacturer in most cases can provide this if you ask for it.

Environment

This plays a part in deciding whether to cover the court, the paint used, the type of grass etc. If your climate is rainy, then as you would expect a cover makes sense (the glass is very difficult to play with when wet). Nowadays you can find canopies or bubbles that can go over the courts, which we will discuss in the next section.

If you are near the sea, make sure you have a layer of protective paint or you will find the metal and bolts are quickly corroded.

Within environment probably fits the issue of planning permissions and this is something that it is really worth getting to know the system in the area you are planning to build. It is different in each country (and often different within areas of the same country!).

Indoor Structure

If you&#;re in an environment where you require a canopy or cover, then there are a few things to consider. The canopy should clear the width and length of the court by a couple of metres (or have sides), because rain will still get on the court if it is the same dimensions as the court. If the cover is only above, then you would want the court facing North-South due to the light at sunset. If the court it fully covered, then it is not relevant.

The height varies, but we recommend a minimum of 9 metres, if it can be 11/12 metres that&#;s even better. The courts should be placed under the roof so that it is even on both sides, not one side of the court sloping to the edge of the canopy while the other side has plenty of space.

In most cases where the weather is an issue, the cover can provide an additional 4-5 months of play and is definitely worth it.

Types of padel courts

There are a few different models of courts and plenty of companies that manufacturer them now. So lets discuss a few:

Concrete

This is how all the courts used to be built, concrete back and sides, then a netting along the side. It does the job, you don&#;t get the same amount of humidity on the surface of the concrete, so that is a benefit. But then you also do not get the same energy transference with the rebound. The big problem for the clubs with the concrete court is the viewing, as you can only watch through the side fence.

Standard

This is the basic model of court which has a metal support between each pane of glass around the court. Often with this type of court, as there&#;s the support the glass thickness can be 10mm (as opposed to 12mm). This court plays exactly the same as the other versions of glass court, with the viewing slightly interrupted due to the posts.

Panoramic

This model does not have the posts supporting along the back glass for better viewing. Glasses are held in place by the metal structure. There are various type of &#;deluxe&#; &#;special edition&#; &#;super duper&#; panoramic courts, with various aesthetic structures, but the principles are the same &#; better viewing.

Singles

There are singles courts that are available and some clubs are considering them. I would only recommend them if the club is absolutely full and you do not have the space to build a full size court. You might be able to do some coaching or junior hours on there, but I doubt they will ever be as popular as the doubles courts, as padel is built on socializing!

Padel Courts Costs

There are now plenty of companies that manufacturer courts, in different countries now too. All of which are relatively easy to contact through social media or a website. There are also plenty of &#;intermediaries&#; that essentially get you a quote from these companies if you are finding it difficult. It is definitely worth getting a few quotes when it comes to the project, because I have experienced differences in up to &#;20,000 for almost the same court. Many of the quotes from Spain (or most countries) can include shipping and installation, but might not include rental of cranes/local charges etc. Definitely read the fine print to know what is covered.

Another reason to order more than one court is that if you are shipping them, it can often be slightly cheaper as many companies can include 2 courts in the same shipping container. Many clubs are put off by an expensive quote, but if you get 2 or 3 you will realize the costs are not that high &#; even for quality (which we recommend above just getting the cheapest).

Foundation

We cannot emphasize the importance of a proper foundation enough! We&#;ve seen many clubs put down courts on &#;flat
You want to hit the ball as flat as possible, this has three good reasons: Consistency A flat ball is harder for your opponents to hit back. This has everything to do with the fact that the ball comes down on the..
&#; surfaces only to find problems with alignment and the grass coming up etc. All the court manufacturers will provide the spec to make the foundation, but this is not an area to try to shortcut. It is not always so similar as to put a court directly on a tennis court. Consult the court manufacturer before ordering the courts to make sure your contractor knows what they are doing as far as the base.

Number of padel courts

We have talked about this in a previous blog post, which you can find here. But it does not make sense to put in 1 or even 2 courts. From a sport development angle you would be limited, as a coach will occupy half your available hours, there is not enough space to have proper tournaments. This is not even considering covering the costs of construction, which will be covered much faster with more courts. Almost every club that has put in only 1 or 2 have regretted not putting in more at the start and most are trying to get permission for more! Personally, I would be looking for 6+ courts if you are in any medium-large city in Europe (excluding Spain probably where the competition is fierce and 6 courts is considered a warm up area!).

Plan your launch

This might sound like a really obvious part of building the court and the most enjoyable aspect to ponder on. But this will be critical, particularly if you are building in an area that is relatively new to padel and you don&#;t have an existing padel community. Spend time to find a good coach to manage the events and give lessons&#;and it will take time, padel coaches are not easy to find. A tennis coach dabbling in a bit of padel is not the same. Try to have your booking systems setup and staff trained in advance, because when the padel gains momentum at the club you will have a flood of interest. And lastly, but definitely not least, plan your social media and objectives for the club.

Having been involved in countless padel projects from start to finish, I hope I&#;d be able to answer your questions (and I am not sponsored by a court manufacturer so my answers will be completely unbiased), please feel free to and I&#;ll help where I can: [ protected]

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