So you have a tennis court and it’s either in really bad shape or no one in your family plays tennis and it just sits there as storage for kid’s bicycles, scooters and lawn furniture. What do you do?
In the first case, you have to at least repair it? Your home is one of your biggest investments and you don’t want a shabby tennis court hanging around your home’s resale value like an albatross.
In the second case, what if you converted your court to an activity or sport your family actually plays? This is no knock on tennis but not everyone plays it and there are other options, like turf sports such as soccer and lacrosse.
Let’s explore some Tennis Court Conversion options:
- NiceRink- temporary hockey rink
- Pickleball
- Soccer
- Lacrosse
- Field Hockey
- Tennis
- Raised Garden Beds
- Remove It
1- NiceRink– Have you ever considered having a backyard hockey or ice skating rink? Many do but one of the biggest deterrents is you need a level space so water isn’t pitched to the low side of the rink. Well, you have a massive open space that’s level and doesn’t get used in the winter. Why not turn it into a hockey or skating rink?
Here is a link to the Nice Rink Website. A tennis court is roughly 60’X120′ = 7,200 sqft. Therefore, you have plenty of space for a rink. Most people, however, get a 32’X64′ rink. I can provide installation and assembly in NJ, NY and CT for between $500-$1,000, depending upon distance travelled, size of rink, etc…
2- Pickleball– Yeah, yeah, yeah, pickleball is all the rage these days. If you know from my other posts, pickleball has become my new identity. Everyone knows what I do for a living so I can’t tell you how many times people ask me, “Have you heard of pickleball?” That’s like asking a plastic surgeon, “Have you heard of Botox?”
Anyways, most people, when it comes to pickleball and their home courts, usually just resurface their tennis court and add pickleball lines. You can, however, convert the entire space to pickleball and then decide further down the line to convert it back to just tennis. It’s just a question of repainting it. If you do decide to go to just pickleball, you can fit as many as four pickleball courts into one tennis court. The cost will be exactly what it would cost to resurface a tennis court.
Synthetic Turf– The next few options are all going to be the same and refer to converting your court into synthetic grass.
DISCLAIMER- I AM ONLY RECOMMENDING THIS AS AN OPTION SHOULD YOUR COURT BE BEYOND REPAINTING.
If your court looks like an asphalt version of continental ice sheets and they’re moving around like tectonic plates, there’s no amount of paint, crack filler or mesh crack repair that’s going to help. It needs to be ripped up, repaved and repainted. This option, however, can cost as much as $100,000.
For less than this cost, or in the neighborhood of, you can convert your space into a turf field, which could be a great option for families that don’t play tennis but do play soccer, field hockey or lacrosse.
3- Soccer/Futsal– Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and, yes, in America too. A scaled down version of soccer is Futsal where there are fewer players and more ball movement. A tennis court at 60’X120′ is certainly not the same size of a soccer field but measures up quite well to a Futsal rink of 66’X126′. Yes, it’s a little compact but it works.
4- Box Lacrosse– Similar to soccer, lacrosse is extremely popular and I’d guess there are far more lacrosse players in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic than there are tennis players. If you have the court, converting it to lacrosse can be a ton of fun and the sizing between a tennis court and a box lacrosse field are very favorable.
5- Field Hockey– Rinse and repeat from the previous examples of soccer and box lacrosse.
6- Tennis– One item of note, you can still do some of the above sports and still play tennis. There are synthetic grass options for tennis. You have to select your grass options carefully because there are as many options for turf than there are for regular grass. You’re going to need something very short so the ball can bounce.
7- Raised Garden Beds– I’m not one usually to cut into my own business but, if you don’t want the court, you don’t want the court. I thought this was an extremely ingenious way to think outside the inside of the box. Here is an article showcasing a couple that made the conversion from a green court to a green thumb. Raised garden beds.
8- Remove your court. What if, instead of converting it you removed it? Again, I’m not in the business of shooting myself in the squeegee but what if you need the impervious coverage for another project?
As always, let me know if I can help.