How UK Pickleball Players Are Dealing with Limited Court Access: Creative Solutions from Around the Country
Pickleball in England is growing faster than the infrastructure that supports it. With club memberships swelling, local sessions fully booked, and waiting lists now common at peak times, one challenge looms large: there simply are not enough courts.
Unlike tennis or five-a-side football, pickleball lacks a dedicated court network across most of the UK. For now, players must rely on borrowed or adapted spaces — and their own creativity. From school gyms and squash courts to taped-up village halls, England’s players are using ingenuity to keep up with the game’s explosive demand.
The National Court Gap
There are over 600 listed pickleball venues in the UK, but many are makeshift — often a shared badminton court or multipurpose sports hall used once or twice a week. Dedicated pickleball courts are rare, and even newer leisure centres tend to prioritise traditional sports when allocating peak-time slots.
In urban centres such as London, Leeds, and Birmingham, demand far outpaces supply. Some clubs report booking their entire weekly court time within hours of release. In rural areas, meanwhile, court scarcity is often geographic. Players may need to travel 20 miles or more to access a session, with limited options for regular practice.
Despite this, players across the country are adapting. In doing so, they are helping to shape what a grassroots sporting movement looks like in real time.
Village Halls and Church Halls: Repurposing the Familiar
In parts of Devon, Dorset, and the Peak District, village halls have become unofficial pickleball homes. These venues, originally designed for community gatherings or table tennis, are now being marked out with temporary pickleball courts using coloured tape and portable nets.
One club in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, meets twice a week in a village hall built in the 1950s. The floor space just accommodates a full court. Players set up their own net before each session, roll out grip matting near service lines, and use foam balls to reduce noise and bounce. “It’s tight, but it works,” says one of the organisers. “We’d rather play in a snug hall than not at all.”
In the Cotswolds, a group of retirees launched a Sunday morning session in a Methodist church hall, where furniture is pushed aside and court lines are refreshed every week with masking tape. What started as a casual trial is now a registered Pickleball England venue with a waiting list.
School Sports Halls: Out-of-Hours Partnerships
Several clubs have forged partnerships with local secondary schools to access underused gym space during evenings and holidays. In East Sussex, one such arrangement sees a local club pay a flat weekly fee to use a dual-use school sports hall, sharing profits with the school’s PTA.
These setups benefit both sides. Schools gain extra income, while clubs get reliable court time. However, they often depend on relationships built at the local level — through a PE teacher who plays pickleball, or a governor willing to support access.
In Kent and Lincolnshire, a handful of community education trusts are exploring whether pickleball could be added formally to their out-of-hours lettings programmes. These would allow local groups to book online, standardising access and reducing red tape.
Tennis Court Conversions: Working with (or Around) Existing Infrastructure
Outdoor tennis courts have proven to be a major asset — when they are available. Some clubs in Surrey and Oxfordshire have negotiated part-time access to public tennis courts, using portable pickleball nets and chalk or temporary line-marking systems.
In Guildford, a community group uses a shared public tennis court in Stoke Park, taping out two pickleball courts sideways across one tennis court. The local council allows bookings during non-peak tennis hours, but only under strict conditions: no permanent markings, no modifications to fencing, and equipment packed away immediately after use.
Some private tennis clubs are less open. A club in Warwickshire trialled pickleball but halted the sessions after pushback from tennis members. In other places, pickleball has filled court time left unused. A tennis venue in Stockport now runs mixed racquet sport mornings — part tennis, part pickleball — to keep usage high and justify maintenance costs.
Repurposing Squash and Badminton Courts
Although squash courts are not ideal for pickleball due to wall constraints and echoes, they have served as stepping stones for some clubs. In Manchester, a leisure centre removed the back wall of an underused squash court to create a semi-open racquet space now used for both table tennis and pickleball.
Badminton courts, however, are the most common indoor option. Their size closely aligns with a standard pickleball court, and many sports halls already have the markings in place. But demand for badminton remains high, and leisure centre schedules often prioritise existing bookings.
In Reading, one club negotiated a deal with the local GLL-operated centre to secure a weekly 90-minute pickleball session. This was made possible by demonstrating that their group could guarantee 12–16 players each week — enough to match or exceed income from badminton hire.
Creative Scheduling and Rotations
To manage high demand, many clubs are adopting creative rotation systems. In Bristol, players register in advance and are assigned a 30-minute slot within a two-hour block, ensuring everyone gets time on court. The system is supported by an online spreadsheet updated weekly by volunteers.
In Newcastle, a club operating from a two-court sports hall runs “ladder style” open play, with players moving between courts based on win-loss records every 20 minutes. This keeps games competitive and ensures quicker turnover.
Some rural clubs in Herefordshire and North Yorkshire use WhatsApp groups to coordinate informal sessions in school playgrounds during holidays. These sessions rely on portable nets and chalk lines, with play suspended when weather turns poor.
Mobile Nets and DIY Markings: Tools of the Movement
If there is one item that defines the grassroots expansion of pickleball in England, it is the portable net. Dozens of clubs operate with no fixed court — just a bag of paddles, a roll of floor tape, and a pop-up net.
Players have become adept at measuring court lines using pre-cut rope, reusable stencil mats, or even laser measurers. Some carry their own sets of rubber throw-down lines to convert basketball courts into playable spaces in minutes.
These adaptations are not just convenient — they have become symbols of the sport’s resilience. In the absence of a formal infrastructure, pickleball players have taken matters into their own hands, literally building the game from the ground up.
Toward a Sustainable Court Network
Despite the innovation, temporary setups are not a long-term solution. As demand continues to grow, there is a pressing need for local councils, school trusts, and leisure operators to formalise access and consider investment in permanent or semi-permanent courts.
Pickleball England is beginning to map court density and availability, and there are calls for a national facility strategy similar to those in place for tennis and basketball. In the meantime, the ingenuity of players is keeping the sport alive and thriving.
What the past few years have shown is that court scarcity does not stop pickleball — it redefines it. Across England, players are proving that passion and persistence can substitute for infrastructure, at least for now.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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