One of the beautiful things about Pickleball is that you can set up shop pretty much anywhere there is a hard surface. As long as you have a good pickleball set to do it, if you find a good surface to play on, the world is your oyster.
However, in the wintertime, some of us in the northern parts of the country can’t just set up a pickleball game on any damn blacktop we see. The best case is that it’s just above freezing, and very uncomfortable so we put on our hats and gloves and deal with the cold. Worst case, the park is covered with 10 feet of snow.
So for us cold-weather folk, we have to take out pickleball games indoors. Places like Basketball gyms are great places to play, but what about other surfaces like, say, a racquetball court? Can you play pickleball on a racquetball court?
Can you play Pickleball on a racquetball court?
You cannot play an official game of Pickleball on a standard Racquetball court.
Why, you ask?
Because a standard racquetball court is too small. Racquetball courts have walls on each side and the surface area measures 20 feet by 40 feet. Pickleball courts measure 20 feet by 44 feet (so close!)
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t play pickleball on a racquetball court. If you are just having fun with some friends, and you have the equipment, then go right on ahead and have fun with it!
How to play Pickleball on a racquetball court
Now, there is no official way to set up a Pickle-racquetball court, so this is what we suggest. You’ll be setting up sort of a “box” Pickleball court here.
Bring your DIY pickleball set, and measure 20 feet into the length of the racquetball court. Set up your net there. Then, measure the midline and the line for the kitchen, and place your markers there. That’s all you’ll have to do. You won’t have to measure outer boundaries, because, well, the walls will be the boundaries!
The one rule you’ll have to change fundamentally, however, is how to serve. We suggest that you make a rule that one foot has to be touching the back wall when you serve to the other team since you won’t be able to stand behind a backline.
Also, there is one thing to watch out for. Pickleball play can get very intense, so make sure you don’t run head-first into the wall trying to return a volley. This is the same disclaimer we would give to our racquetball and squash friends, so protect the real money maker (your brain) when you’re in that box giving it your all.
Conclusion
Pickleball can be played on a racquetball court, but not officially. Because a racquetball court is 40 feet by 20 feet, it falls 4 feet short in length of the standard length of an official pickleball court. However, you can play for fun if you just cut the length of each box on either side of the net by 2 feet. Then you will have a box pickleball court! Which is fun and innovative, but non-standard.