Where Can I Play Pickleball? The Ultimate Guide to Finding a Pickleball Court Near You
You’ll always remember the pickleball court where you first played pickleball. This initial venue gives you a good vibe of the type of players you can expect to see at those sorts of facilities and may set the tone for the rest of your pickleball career.
Maybe you started in a make-shift local court and want to experience a state-of-the-art pickleball court. Or perhaps you’ve been playing with a club and want to play in a casual arena. In any case, it’s always good to know your options for finding a good spot to play pickleball.
Finding dedicated pickleball courts not only allows you to play pickleball but can introduce you to new partners or opponents that may offer you better competition or a closer match in skill level than your current opposition.
With the growing pickleball movement, there’s definitely no shortage of players or venues in the United States. In fact, new courts are popping up every day because pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America. Gyms are adding dedicated pickleball rooms, churches are utilizing their basements, and some condos are even installing courts for year-round play. Even Airbnbs have pickleball courts these days. You just need to know where to look.
Pro tip - try searching in these places:
1) Your local community center
2) Tennis clubs
3) Pickleball membership facilities
4) USA Pickleball Places2Play App and Website
5) Facebook groups
6) Pickleball Union’s website guide: Where To Play
Read on to find out how to search for pickleball courts near you!
Pickleball Court Locations Near You
Find pickleball courts near you by searching in the following areas.
Your Local Community Center (or YMCA)
My first recommendation is to go online and use your favorite search engine for a keyword search. You'll likely get some relevant results if you type in "pickleball near me.” You can also try going on Google or Apple Maps and typing in “pickleball courts” to find the most local option.
To find out whether there are any open play times when you can drop in at your local YMCA, recreation center, or community center, call them and ask. Pickleball is being offered in many of these centers during non-peak hours - usually the mornings and early afternoons when the gyms are not crowded. Ask the members what else is played there, such as volleyball, badminton, or ping pong if you get the chance to visit. You may find outdoor pickleball courts and more!
Playing Pickleball at Tennis Clubs
Local tennis centers are no different. Pickleball is increasingly being incorporated into programs at these facilities in order to generate additional revenue when the tennis courts are inactive. Tennis facilities will usually offer reasonably priced "daily passes" or monthly "memberships" in addition to reasonable one-time rates for court reservations. Rates for a 2-to-3-hour window are generally $5-$10, and monthly rates range from $30-$100, depending on where you are located.
Many tennis facilities put pickleball nets on either side of their tennis nets on a couple of their tennis courts to accommodate pickleball players. If they don’t and you have your own net or portable nets, you can usually bring them and hang them to play.
Who knows - you may convert a few tennis players to pickleball when you show them how much fun the sport is!
Pickleball Membership Facilities
You may be lucky enough to have an indoor pickleball facility with a pickleball club in your city. There are indoor pickleball courts popping up across the country. To find out if you can play pickleball indoors, check out lists online of dedicated indoor pickleball facilities.
USA Pickleball Places2Play App and Website
A USA Pickleball spokesperson says that their 1,600+ ambassadors and more than 21,000 members are constantly updating the official USA Pickleball Places 2 Play website with local court information. Information about the venue can be found on the website, including the courts' address, how many there are, and other useful data. A person seeking court information at this website can filter results by city, state, zip code, or location name.
You can also download the free "Places2Play" app from the Apple App Store as another helpful resource. If your location services are enabled in your phone settings, you can use this app to find places to play near you. Or, you can search by zip code to find nearby places.
USA Pickleball Ambassadors
A great source of information is the USA Pickleball Ambassadors. These ambassadors are simply volunteers dedicated to publicizing pickleball in their areas of residence. These volunteers will be able to provide information regarding where to play pickleball in their area. See if there is an ambassador in your area by searching the USA Pickleball website or finding them on social media.
Pickleball Facebook Groups
Another great way to find places to play is by joining pickleball-focused Facebook groups. In January 2022, Pickleball Forum had over 59,000 members, making it the largest Facebook pickleball group.
If you want to play pickleball or attend a tournament in a particular city, you can also search in Facebook's search box by typing "pickleball" and the name of the city you’re in. The results should include several local pickleball groups and posts related to local championships and recreational games.
Pickleball Union Website
If you want to search by city or state for Pickleball courts near you, check out Pickleball Union’s updated “Where to Play” website to find the best courts in your area.
Takeaways
There are many easy options to find a place to play, from apps to websites, and if you haven’t found one nearby, chances are your community would love to have a local court, so you could find a way to make it happen!
Creating your own place to play by renting space in a local gym could be a good alternative. To get started, chat with your local rec center, community center, or YMCA.
