Pickleball compared with tennis, padel and badminton
How pickleball compares with tennis, padel and badminton: court sizes, nets, equipment, serving and scoring, using each sport's official rules.
Short answer: pickleball has the smallest court of the four (13.41 m by 6.10 m, the same as badminton), the lowest net in the centre (86.36 cm), an underarm-only serve and its own no-volley kitchen next to the net. Padel is played inside walls on a 20 m by 10 m court with tennis scoring, tennis uses a court about three times the area, and badminton shares pickleball's footprint but uses a 1.524 m net and a shuttle.
"Pickleball vs" is one of the most common ways Australians search for the sport, judging by Google's autocomplete suggestions. Each comparison below is built from the official rules of both sports.
Guides in this section
Pickleball vs tennis
Pickleball vs tennis compared from the official rules: court size, net height, paddles vs rackets, balls, serving, scoring, and how tennis clubs in Australia are adding pickleball.
Pickleball vs padel
Pickleball vs padel compared from the official rules: court size, walls, paddles vs rackets, balls, serving, scoring, and where to play both in Australia.
Pickleball vs badminton
Pickleball vs badminton compared from the official rules: nearly identical court size, very different net heights, paddle vs racket, ball vs shuttle, serving and scoring, plus playing pickleball on badminton courts.
Four racquet and paddle sports side by side
| Pickleball | Tennis | Padel | Badminton | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court | 13.41 x 6.10 m | 23.77 x 10.97 m (doubles) | 20 x 10 m, enclosed | 13.40 x 6.10 m (doubles) |
| Net at centre | 86.36 cm | 0.914 m | 0.88 m | 1.524 m |
| Equipment | Solid paddle, plastic ball with holes | Strung racket, felt ball | Perforated stringless racket, rubber ball | Strung racket, shuttle |
| Serve | Underarm, one attempt | Two attempts | Underarm after a bounce, two attempts | Shuttle below 1.15 m |
| Scoring | To 11, server scores | 15-30-40, games, sets | Tennis-style, golden point option | Rally scoring |
The comparisons
- Pickleball vs tennis: what transfers from tennis, and how Australian tennis venues are adding pickleball.
- Pickleball vs padel: the two sports the Australian Sports Commission groups together in AusPlay.
- Pickleball vs badminton: same court size, very different game.
For a to-scale drawing of all four courts, see court size compared.
Sources for this page
Every fact above comes from one of these pages, read in November 2026. See the full sources list and my editorial policy.