Padel court dimensions (and how they compare with tennis)
Official padel court dimensions: 20 m by 10 m, glass and mesh heights, net, service boxes, and how a padel court compares with a tennis court.
A padel court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide, a playing area of 200 m² (about 65 ft 7 in by 32 ft 10 in). The net is 88 cm high at the centre and 92 cm at the posts. Service lines sit 6.95 m from the net. Back walls stand 4 metres high, and at least 6 metres of clear height is needed above the court.
The playing area
The 20 by 10 metres are measured inside the walls, lines included. The rules allow a tolerance of 0.5 %, which leaves a few centimetres to the builder. The net splits the court into two halves of 10 metres, and each half carries two service boxes of 6.95 m by 5 m.
| Element | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Total length | 20 m (65 ft 7 in) |
| Total width | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Service line, from the net | 6.95 m |
| Service box | 6.95 × 5 m |
| Net at the centre | 88 cm |
| Net at the posts | 92 cm |
| Minimum clear height | 6 m |
Walls and mesh
A padel court is enclosed on all four sides, but not in the same way everywhere. The back walls are glass for 3 metres, topped by a metre of metal mesh, making 4 metres in total. The sides follow one of the configurations the rules allow, stepping glass and mesh down from the back towards the net.
The difference is not decorative: the ball rebounds cleanly off glass and much less so off mesh, whose links send it off at odd angles. That is why players work the glass at the back and treat the corners with suspicion.
Clear height
At least 6 metres above the court must be free of obstacles. This is the measurement that decides a covered project: a roof structure, a light or a beam any lower turns every lob into a lottery. For a new build, allowing more than the minimum is the advice builders give, because height cannot be added later.
The real footprint
The 20 by 10 metres are not enough to size a project: add the structure, the doors and a walkway around. A build is therefore drawn on a footprint slightly larger than the playing area, plus circulation and, with several courts, the space between them. The guide to building a padel court covers those steps.
Compared with a tennis court
| Padel | Tennis (doubles) | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 20 m | 23.77 m |
| Width | 10 m | 10.97 m |
| Playing area | 200 m² | ≈ 261 m² |
| Net at the centre | 88 cm | 91.4 cm |
| Service line | 6.95 m from the net | 6.40 m from the net |
A padel court is smaller than a tennis court, but it needs a comparable footprint once structure and circulation are counted. Two padel courts do not drop onto an existing tennis court without rethinking the space around them.
Sources
- International Padel Federation (FIP), court specifications: dimensions, net, walls and clear height. Read on 22 September 2026.
- International Tennis Federation (ITF), Rules of Tennis, for the tennis court measurements.
