Mark out a pickleball court in under 10 minutes

I was fortunate to be asked to offer pickleball to Stratford Sports Club in Stratford Upon Avon following the delivery of a taster session.

Stratford Sports Club offer a range of sporting facilities including having a tennis section with 7 courts (four carpet and three-euro clay) including having the luxury of having four courts covered by domes during the winter to allow uninterrupted play in poor weather conditions.

Following discussion with the club we agreed we would offer the local community and existing members of the club the opportunity to learn pickleball and I designed an eight-week beginners’ course along with pay and play.

Our challenge was to identify how we could offer pickleball by maximising our playing time during the time the tennis courts were booked out as we had limited time the courts could be used for pickleball without annoying tennis players due to a reduction in tennis court availability.

Naturally with a relatively new carpet playing surface for playing tennis we were not able to mark on the surface or use any adhesives to mark out the pickleball courts. For the taster session we used lay down court marking strips. This took around 20 / 25 minutes to set up each court and involved constant measuring. There were four pickleball courts marked out over two tennis courts. It was a great achievement by staff at Stratford sports club but not a process we could roll out a few times a week.

I believed we needed to simplify the court laying out process to ensure it was easier for all involved   and to remove the need to measure.

I carried out extensive research to identify what other alternatives were being used not only in the UK but also across the world but predominantly in the USA.

Having spoken to suppliers in the USA I identified only a few options currently available and felt these were not suitable due to trip hazards and also transportation costs due to small volumes.

I then looked at other sports and how they were able to provide mini courts quickly, so the focus was on playing and not setting up. I identified roll down lines used for providing a small tennis court for youth tennis although I could see further development was required with the current product.

Having spoken to several suppliers of these roll down lines they were not interested in producing the correct size for a pickleball court and making  adjustments. I then went outside the sports industry to rubber manufactures and whilst some would entertain the new product, they were not cost effective.

Finally, I had discussions with Jeff at ZSIG who was happy to go into the detail of my requirements and produce a set. We tried these at the next pickleball beginners course lesson and identified a few minor alterations that would make laying the court even easier. A week later we had version two, and the company are now happy to sell these as a standard product.

The lines are made from extremely durable 100% natural rubber, they are waterproof, weather resistant and unaffected by temperate extremes within parameters while also easy to clean. That said they are temporary lines which roll up easily for storage.

The lines have a fine ribbed safety surface on the upper side for sure footing with a textured underside that grips the court surface.

Packed as two rolls on a handy carry pole with each line secure to the pole by a Velcro fitting.

Naturally if a player stands on the lines and pushes off towards the NVZ to play a shot sometimes the rubber rolls down lines will ruffle and you just pull a corner to straighten as the lines are connected via the Velcro patch.

So, What Do You Get as a Set?

The set consists of 10 rolls down lines. 2 x baselines, 4 x sidelines (join two together with Velcro for full length), 2 x service lines and 2 x centre lines.  At every corner, intersection and the joining of the side lines there are sewn Velcro patches on the rubber. This ensures the correct spacing for the court dimensions as well as ensuring the lines lay flat at the joining points.  The joining of the sidelines identifies the position of the net.

We have been using these rolls down lines now for a couple of months and seen the set-up time reduce to under 10 minutes for one person setting up (plus installing the net) and a much shorter time with more people assisting in the set up. Very easy for anyone to set up with no measuring required.

The development of these roll down lines now allows a pickleball court to be quickly and easily set up on a tennis court and many other hard surfaces at a great price. At the end of the game just roll up the lines and you are ready to take them to your next location.