Backyard Pickleball Court Mistakes: Why I Don't Recommend Sport Court Tiles

YES my friends, the pickleball/ basketball sports court is finally completed :-)





I have to laugh......we thought it would be done at the beginning of summer, but HEY, life never goes as planned so having it finished before snow hits the ground works too ;-)

The landscaper did a BEAUTIFUL job and if it wasn't for all the awful issues with the FlexCourt company (who provided our sports tiles, I don't recommend them) it would have been completed a lot earlier.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!

Do not use Sports Court tiles on your pickleball court. After spending thousands on these tiles, trying to do our best to deal with the sliding, skidding and unpredictable bounce on these tiles we finally gave up and trashed them after 5 years. I told my husband we have had penance enough playing on the Sports Court tiles. We took them all off and I bought burgundy and green tennis paint from home depot.  Sportsmaster was also a great help with great information on do-it-yourself and prep products I needed to get the job done. 

Do not make the same mistake we did! Do not use Sports Court tiles for your pickleball court.



I have bought a few portable pickleball Nets throughout the years. To be honest, they all seem to have the same problem that after a year that middle stem pokes through to the top of the net. If I could find one with double stitching or triple thick material used that keeps that from happening I would be delighted.

So my personal recommendation is actually purchasing a cheaper pickleball net off Amazon and getting a new one each year. I do like the fact that this one has great reviews and you can make the net different sizes in case you just had a smaller area where you needed to drill. At $100 or under, it's a fine investment to get one a year. ( unless you want to go to those non portable full commercial nets that is also a good idea and they run about 2K. )




The pavers that match our back patio really added a nice finishing touch. :-)





One of my favorite things about the court is how much family/friend time we spend on it.  At least 3-4 times a week my husband and I see who can beat the other person in a game of pickleball.   When we have company over we always get them to try at least one game.  Of course, whenever my son's friends come over the FIRST thing they want to do is play on the court.

My son and his buddies playing pickleball.



I also LOVE the fact that even though we didn't have full grown trees to put a hammock on, we just inserted posts in the ground and VOILA, an inexpensive hammock stand!  I have found that some people enjoy the hammock even more than the court! ;-)



I found that INDOOR balls worked so much better on sports tiles.  The sports tiles have so much grip on the surface that if you use the hard outdoor balls they do not play at all like a normal outdoor concrete court would.  Using the indoor balls made a huge difference.  (thank goodness!)



I also want to mention the great companies that gave me pickleball paddles to review and try out on the court.

Paddletek gave me 4 awesome paddles - my favorite out of the four is The Elements
My tournament partner's favorite Paddletek paddle was the Power Pro (like the name suggests, it has lots of power due to the weighted top)




Selkirk paddles is an upcoming superb pickleball paddle company.  In fact, the paddle they gave me to review (the 300A XL),  I used in a tournament last weekend AND WON! :-)  




Grand Champion in the Spokane USAPA regulated tournament.  
My husband now calls me the "The Pickleball Queen" ha!


In case you want to see up-close what my shirt says here it is. (Oh boy, this is really starting to look like one of my Fess Up posts! Ha!)  


One other company that gave me a paddle to review is Paddleboardz ergo-grip pickleball paddle. I think this would be a smart one to try if you are dealing with tennis elbow.  I know the creator and the owner of the company had his tennis elbow go away after using this paddle.  It's different, but there might even be some shots that you could hit better than with your standard shape paddle! Check out Pickleball Central.



OH, and somehow I also got into the paper: "Tickled to Talk Pickleball". Yep, should have saved this for a Fess Up post - hahaha!




"See Pickle" - this makes me laugh.....at least my RELISH the Moment shirt is making more sense to a few of you. ;-) 




Overall, I am thrilled with investing in a backyard sports court (and let me tell you, it was an investment! ugggh!) I know it will be used for MANY years to come.



Now who wants to come over and play a game of PICKLEBALL!!!! :-)
creativejuicesdecor
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