Beach volleyball is a popular sport, both for casual play and professional competition.
Whether you simply want to play with a few friends or you’re looking to properly train for competitive play, you’ll need to know what the dimensions of a beach volleyball court are.
Doubles Competition Dimensions
A professional doubles competition beach volleyball court should be 8 meters or 26.25 feet wide. The length of the court must be double the width for doubles competitions, meaning that the court needs to be 16 meters or 52.5 feet long.
During a lively game of beach volleyball, the ball often goes out of bounds, and players may lunge beyond the designated court area in order to make a save and keep the game going.
This means that you should have at least 3 to 6 meters or 10 to 20 feet of clearance space around each side and end of the court.
If you plan to set up another beach volleyball court next to the first one, you might want to use the maximum amount of free space to ensure that players don’t interfere with each other.
If you need to put a roof of any sort over the court, remember that the ball will often fly quite high into the air.
You’ll need at least 7 meters or 23 feet of free space from the floor of the court to the ceiling. An open roof is generally the best option when possible.
The court boundaries are designated by two end lines and two sidelines, which are each 2 inches wide.
Recreational Play Dimensions
For recreational play, you might want to get a game going with four or even six people on each side.
This means that the court will need to be a bit larger than a doubles court.
The court should have a width of 30 feet and a length of 60 feet.
If you’re not sure what you’ll be playing, it’s often better to build a larger court and then decrease the court dimensions for smaller teams.
Net Height and Width
The beach volleyball net sits in the exact center of the court.
This net should be at least 8.5 meters or 27.9 feet long.
The net itself should be 1 meter or just over 3 feet wide, but the top of the net will need to be much higher than this for competition.
For men’s doubles competition play, the top of the net should be 2.43 meters or just about 8 feet above the floor of the court. For women’s competition, the top of the net should be 2.24 meters or 7 feet, 4 inches above the sand’s surface.
At each side of the net is a large antenna that extends upward 80 centimeters or 31 and a half inches.
These antennae mark the boundaries of the net and court, and the ball must pass between them in order to be considered to be within bounds.
Sand Depth
If you’re setting up a court on the beach, sand depth isn’t usually something you need to consider.
However, if you’re making your own court, you’ll need to add at least 18 inches, or 1 and a half feet, of sand to the play areas of the court.
In the free zone around the court, the sand depth should be at least 12 inches.
Whether you’re building a court or placing one on an existing beach, it’s important to ensure that the area is as level as possible.
The sand should also be level and smooth, and the area should be free of any sharp debris such as rocks, shells, or driftwood.
What is the cost estimate to make a beach/sand volleyball court?
In order to make a proper sand or beach volleyball court, you should take your time and purchase all of the correct materials in order to ensure that the court functions the way you want it to.
You’ll need to dig or have someone dig the court trench to the correct depth, then frame the court. The court will then need to be filled and the markers and net will need to be installed.
You may also want to edge the court in a soft material such as grass or artificial turf. The sand itself can cost about $2,000, and each additional item or necessary construction adds to the price.
Altogether, a sand volleyball court installation can cost between $19,000 and $35,000, depending on how much of the work you do yourself and what materials you use.
What kind of sand is used for beach volleyball?
Several types of sand can be used for beach volleyball courts. In general, you’ll want to choose sand that is very clean and has little dust, dirt, or rocks.
Rocks and shells are too sharp to stand on with bare feet, and sand that hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dust will compact and turn to mud when it gets wet.
Silica sand, beach, or dune sand are often the best options. Very clean masonry sand or washed river sand can also be used.
How many cubic feet of sand are in a beach volleyball court?
If your volleyball court is sized for doubles competition, you will need at least 2,067 cubic feet of sand. If the court is a bit bigger, such as one designed for recreational play, you’ll need at least 2,700 cubic feet of sand.
If you want to put sand around the edges of the bounds of the court, you’ll need at least another 525 cubic feet. If you want the edges to be wider or deeper, you could add up to another 1,800 cubic feet.
Size of a beach volleyball court compared to indoors
A beach volleyball court ranges from 26.25 feet wide and 52.5 feet long to 30 feet wide and 60 feet long, depending on whether it’s used for doubles competitions or recreational play.
A standard indoor volleyball court, on the other hand, is 29.5 feet wide and 59 feet long.
This means that an indoor court, even though it’s designed for team play, is only between 6 inches and 3 feet 3 inches wider and between 1 foot and 6 feet 6 inches longer than a beach volleyball court.