Most plot searches for a padel court start and end at 20×10m — the FIP playing area. That is the court, not the site. A single outdoor padel court realistically needs a clear site of around 22–23m × 12–13m to fit the enclosure structure, anchor beam footings, and minimum maintenance access on all sides. Get that number wrong before you sign a lease and you are facing renegotiation or a redesign that costs more than a site survey.
You do not need to be an engineer to get this right — you just need to know what questions to ask before you commit to a plot.
The 20m × 10m figure is the inner playing surface — the glass walls and mesh sit right at that boundary. Surrounding the playing area is the steel enclosure's perimeter anchor beam (a concrete footing that the structure bolts into), plus the columns that need clearance on the outside for fixing, servicing, and glass replacement. Budget for at least 1m of clear space outside the enclosure on all four sides.
That gives a minimum practical site of 22m × 12m for a single outdoor court. This is tight — tight enough that a maintenance team will be working close to boundary walls — but workable. For a more comfortable build with a narrow spectator zone or access walkway, plan for 24m × 14m.
| Layout | Minimum site | Comfortable site |
|---|
| Single outdoor court | 22m × 12m | 24m × 14m |
| 2 courts (shared side wall) | 22m × 22m | 24m × 24m |
| 4 courts (2×2 grid) | 44m × 22m | 48m × 26m |
| Single indoor court (hall floor) | 22m × 12m inside | 25m × 15m hall floor |
These are practical planning figures, not FIP-mandated buffers — FIP specifies only the court dimensions, not the surrounding site. Verify against your specific enclosure supplier, as column positions vary slightly between manufacturers.
Outdoor Courts: Slope, Drainage, and Soil
The site needs to be flat enough to achieve a drainage fall of 0.5–1% across the slab — roughly 10–20cm of drop over the 20m length. If your plot has more natural slope, cut-and-fill earthworks are needed before the concrete goes down. On the flat alluvial plains of Delhi NCR, Haryana, and Punjab this is rarely an issue. Rocky or steeply sloping sites in Rajasthan's foothills add civil cost.
Drainage outfall matters more than most site searches account for. You need a perimeter drain channel with a clear outlet — in a monsoon downpour, an enclosed padel court with blocked drainage ponds water against the glass and lifts the turf adhesive. Before you finalise any site, stand on it in the rain and see where the water goes.
Black cotton soil — common in Madhya Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan — is a warning sign. It swells when wet and contracts when dry, and that cyclic movement will crack a slab that was not designed for it. A soil test costs ₹10–15k. On a black cotton site, deeper excavation and a reinforced sub-base are mandatory. Skipping that step on the wrong soil risks a cracked slab within two monsoon seasons, and slab repair on a built padel court is expensive. See the full padel court cost breakdown for how the base affects total project price.
Indoor Courts: Ceiling Height
FIP specifies a minimum indoor clear height of 6m for padel courts. In practice, 6m is a bare minimum — a ball clipping the ceiling at the baseline affects play quality and may disqualify the court from formal competitions.
For any new commercial indoor build, design for 8m clear height. The cost difference between a 6m and 8m industrial shed is modest relative to the total project, and the upgrade future-proofs the facility for club-level and regional competition. It also resolves the LED fixture problem: lights need to mount at 6–7m to spread evenly across the court without blinding players on glass wall returns. At 6m total height, that headroom disappears.
Measure "clear height" as finished floor to the lowest obstruction — the underside of a purlin, a beam, or a hanging fixture — not to the apex of the roof. A 7.5m ridge on a pitched shed may give only 5.8m at the eaves over the court. Always confirm the measurement at the lowest point over the full 20×10m playing footprint.
Orientation: Which Way to Face
Orient the long axis — the 20m length — north-south wherever the site allows. This keeps low morning and evening sun off the back glass walls and out of players' eyes during baseline play. An east-west court puts players at the western end looking into the rising sun in the morning, and players at the eastern end looking into the setting sun in the afternoon — on an open glass wall, that is serious glare.
Urban sites rarely offer perfect orientation. Anti-glare mesh on the short ends, shade structures, and scheduling the most sensitive sessions away from sunrise and sunset can compensate partially. But if two sites are otherwise equal, the north-south one is better by a meaningful margin.
Two or More Courts
The most space-efficient multi-court layout is a shared side wall, where two courts mirror each other with one common fence line. Two courts this way fit in approximately 22m × 22m — 10m per court plus 2m of shared service corridor. This layout also cuts fencing cost per court by 15–20% and simplifies the civil work.
Between independent court clusters, leave a 3m service corridor. For 4-court facilities — the scale at which padel clubs become commercially viable — plan for a central walkway of 4m, changing rooms adjoining the long side, and site entry at one of the short ends. See the padel court dimensions and layout guide for the court markings that go inside that footprint.
What Goes Wrong on the Wrong Site
Mini-story — Noida, 2025. A club operator shortlisted a 22×11m rooftop plot for a single padel court. The 10m width matched the court dimension on paper. What it didn't account for was that the 10m was measured inside-to-inside parapet wall — the padel enclosure's anchor beam footings needed to sit inside that boundary, and the short sides had zero clearance for a maintenance walkway. The project relocated to a 22×14m plot nearby with a three-week delay and a lease renegotiation. A site survey before signing the original lease would have cost ₹5,000 and saved the delay.
The other common failure is committing to an indoor hall with a stated 6.5m ceiling, only to find after measurement that the clear height over the court position is 5.8m due to a beam line. Always measure the lowest point over the full 20×10m court footprint, not just at the ridge or in a corner.
Site Checklist Before You Commit
- Actual open dimensions: is the stated measurement inside-to-inside structural walls or true open area?
- Soil type: alluvial/sandy (most of North India) or black cotton (MP/Rajasthan fringe) — order a soil test
- Drainage outfall: which direction does the site naturally drain, and is there a clear perimeter outlet?
- Site access: can a truck reach the plot for steel frame delivery? Padel enclosure panels are 3–4m long
- Overhead obstructions: power lines, trees, or adjacent building overhangs crossing the footprint?
- Indoor — clear height: measure finished floor to the lowest obstruction over the full 20×10m area; 6m minimum, 8m+ preferred
- Orientation: note which direction is north before finalising the layout
A single padel court costs ₹9–14 lakh to build. A site assessment before you commit costs ₹5,000–15,000. That asymmetry makes the decision simple. For what the full build involves once the site is confirmed, read the padel court construction cost guide or explore our padel court construction services.
