Pickleball net height vs tennis net height.

A lot of people do comparison between pickleball net height and tennis net height. Although these both are totally different kind of sports but due to their visual looks people starts thinking that they must have something in common.

Like they both have courts that looks like same although they are different in size and and same players appearance but the rules are totally different for both. If you want to know more about pickleball and tennis differences you can simply get to it by link below.

Pickleball net height.

The height of pickleball net according to official guide is 36″ at the polls and 34″ in the middle of the net and the total width of the pickleball net is 22′. These dimensions are according to official and standard size.

Height of pickleball net.

Although it was first played with a standard badminton net, the inventor lowered the height of the badminton net to make it easy to hit the ball over it. The first first game was played by a family that included women and children and they were unable to hit over a standard tennis net height.

This is one known main reason and they wanted to make it a pure family game. Pickleball went under many changings in its rules over the time and evolve into a shape that is been played now a days. If you want to know update rules of pickleball click on the following link.

Tennis net height.

The standard height of a tennis net is 42″ inches at the sides and 36″ inches high at the center. The total width of tennis net is 42′ feet and this is the reason of less height of tennis court in the center which is 6″ lower as compare to the height from sides.

The pickleball net size is almost half of the tennis in width that is why the difference in the height of the pickleball net between the sides and center is less. It is very hard to use portable stands to hold tennis net because of its weight which is around 4.5kg and need extra weights to be attached with portable polls to hold it.

Pickleball net vs tennis net

From this image, you can easily understand how high is a pickleball net as compared to tennis net.

Standard pickleball net specifications.

There are two main types of pickleball nets,

  • Permanent nets on regular court.
  • Portable nets.

The main difference between them is polls. in permanent one the polls used are usually made of steel and fixed in the ground while in portable bot steel and plastic poll are available in the market but people mostly prefer plastic because they are easy to carry.

Other things that are connected to pickleball net are net materials, frames, and the weight of the net. Let’s get more deep into it.

Pickleball net material.

Officially, no law determines which type of materials are allowed to be used to make a pickleball net. Usually, two types of materials are commonly used to make these nets Polyester and Nylon.

Before buying a net consider these three things and buy according to them.

  1. Durability of net: It depends on your use, if you are planning to set a permanent court are going to use this net on regular basis then you must buy a net that is good water resistant, UV light protected (that can survive in sunshine).
  2. Weight: If you have to move your net on daily basis or frequently than its better to consider the weight of the net you are buying.
  3. Price: The pickleball nets average price is ranged between 20$ to 230$. So also consider your budget when buying one but also condition in which you will use it. Like if you are going to use it occasionally then its better to buy a cheap one.

Another important thing to remember is the net must have reinforced edges that are 1.5 to 2 inches in thickness. These help in many ways like increasing visibility of the net edge, resistance against tearing, and also helping the net to maintain its shape/height.

Pickleball net frames.

Just like net frames also came in three materials, Steel, PVC, and Aluminum. The frames made of steel and aluminum are mostly used for pickleball. Like other things, they all have positive and negative things like price, durability, and weight.

MaterialsWind resistancePriceTransportationDurability
SteelHigh resistance150$/300$HardHigh
PVCLow resistance50$/110$EasyLow
AluminumLow resistance100$/240$EasyMedium

They came according to standard pickleball net height and the durability mentioned in the graph is based on the resistance against force applied to these polls by various ways like some accidently hit them with feet or hit it while running.

Pickleball net weight.

The weight of a pickleball net depends upon the material used to make the specific net but if we talk about an average weight it about 25 to 35 pounds. For example, a regular aluminum net set weights between 15 to pounds where a heavy duty net made of heavy duty steel weights between 45 to 50 pounds.

So if you are planning to use a portable net its better to buy aluminum net, because they are easy to transport and also budget friendly as compare to steel once.

Pickleball vs tennis net (Similarities).

Although pickleball net height is different from tennis net but they serve the same roles in the game. In both games, the net is used to divide the court into equal sides and provide a fixed line barrier against direct hits by the opponent.

The materials used to make these nets are also the same. Overall The nets are the same in visual and technical aspects and the only difference is their size.

Bonus information.

As you already know the pickleball net height is lower than any other court game except paddle tennis but some players often fail in a game to hit the ball over it. This mostly happens with the newbies as they are not used to it before.

The experienced players took full advantage of the lower pickleball net height and volley the ball over it easily with a strong hit to get some score.

These both are different games from all perspectives and only their visual looks are somehow the same. Both games have their different rules for faults, scoring, and winning the game.

If a pickleball serve hits the net that will be consider as a fault and according to official rules the server will automatically lost his serve. If this happens in singles the opponent will serve next and in doubles if first player made this fault then second will serve. Learn more about serving rules.

If you are playing a professional game then it is prohibited to change it. But if you are playing it with your family (children) and want to make it easy for them to hit over it then you can set pickleball net height as you want.

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