They say that 10,000 hours of practice is all it takes to master any skill.
Maybe that’s okay for the pros like Andy Murray and Roger Federer, but if you’re just an amateur with the tennis bug, getting in all that court time to hone your services can be a real challenge.
Perhaps there’s a court at your local park twenty minutes away, or maybe you have to drive to a tennis club on the other side of town.
Wouldn’t it be easier just to have a court at the bottom of your garden?
Well, yes: It would!
- How Many Feet is a Tennis Court?
The first question is just how much space you’re going to need: how many feet is a tennis court?
Well, the minimum recommended size for a court that can host either singles or doubles matches is 120 ft. by 60 ft.
That gives you space for the court itself, as well as room for players to overrun at the sides or serve from the baseline.
If you want to do this all properly and have a tournament-style court, with room for judges and linesmen, add another 10 ft to each measurement.
- Building a Tennis Court in Your Backyard
Whether you have construction experience or not, interlocking flooring is your best choice
- The first thing to do is perform the groundwork. This will involve a little excavation if the site isn’t entirely flat, then proper drainage needs to be installed. You don’t want your nice new court to crack as the ground shifts underneath it, so you may well need to add an under-layer, depending on the type of soil you’re building on.
- Now you get to the surface itself. Traditionally, you would use either grass, clay, or concrete (for a hard court), but PP tiles are increasingly popular, as well as being considerably easier to maintain.
- After the surface, you will need to install the relevant infrastructure; net posts, windbreakers, a surrounding fence, and so on.
- Finally, the lines are painted on and then you’re done.
All of this will take you from four to eight weeks, depending on the weather.
There are a couple of things to bear in mind.
Before you begin, measure the site area and prepare the desired number of floors based on the size of the area.
Secondly, make sure that you have the necessary planning permissions before you start.
If you’re building in your garden, the court itself probably won’t need any permissions, but if you intend to erect a fence around the court (and you probably should) then you very likely will.
