Indoor vs. outdoor pickleball play

As the weather starts to warm up in many areas, you may be wondering if you should continue playing inside or move to an outside pickleball court (or both!). There are many differences between outdoor vs. indoor pickleball play.

Pickleball court

The surface of your pickleball court may change dramatically based on whether you are playing indoors or outdoors.

Outdoor pickleball courts can be made of:

• Cement

• Asphalt

• Tennis courts

• Sport court

• Clay

• Grass
  

Indoor pickleball courts can be made of:

• Basketball courts

• Tennis courts

• Sport court

Weather

The weather can have a great effect on your pickleball game. Whether it’s sunny, rainy, cloudy, windy, humid, cold, or hot, you may play completely different than the day before.

Temperature

Indoor pickleball courts are usually regulated to be the perfect temperature for play, with little humidity. While outdoor pickleball courts will be at whatever temperature it is at the moment.

Wind & Precipitation

Outdoor pickleball players also have to deal with any wind, rain, or snowy conditions — which means that players in northern states cannot usually play outside during winter, and players in warmer locations have more options to play all year round.

Pickleball play also tends to be a lot faster indoors, because there is no wind slowing the ball and you are actually playing with a completely different ball.

Sun

Although having too much sun may seem like a good idea when playing pickleball, there are a few reasons too much sun may make you want to stay inside:

Sun in your eyes: Giving an advantage to the players not facing the sun.

Too hot: Too much sun can also cause dehydration and heat stroke.

Gear

Your pickleball equipment will change depending on whether you are playing indoors or outdoors. Although you might keep the same pickleball paddle and shoes, your clothing will probably be much different.

Indoor pickleball games are going to be temperature-controlled, which means you can wear whatever you are comfortable in. But outdoor pickleball games will be dependent on the weather at that moment: If it’s 100 degrees outside, you will be wearing a very different outfit than if it’s snowing or raining.

Indoor vs. outdoor pickleball

Many pickleball players have a preference for indoor or outdoor pickleball, although some players are just happy to be playing anywhere. Both indoor and outdoor pickleball are fun to learn, and learning one then the other can give you a new challenge too.

As you begin playing more, you will learn your preferences and if it matters to you where you play or if you enjoy playing both indoors and outdoors.