Pickleball Noise Problems and Solutions | How to Avoid Trouble with Neighbors and Keep Playing for Years

The "pop" of a pickleball being hit. Have you ever thought about how that sound comes across outside the court?

I'm Coach Yoshi. In March 2026, on a family visit to my alma mater in LA, I heard the dry "pock" and "pop" of pickleball being played, and that's how I first encountered the sport. Even now, hearing that sound gets me excited. But this sound, so pleasant to those of us playing, has become a source of noise disputes in the United States, leading to court closures and even lawsuits. Today, I'll go over how loud the sound is and what makes it distinctive, and the noise measures we can take in Japan.

Why the Sound of Pickleball Easily Leads to Noise Disputes

You might be thinking, "Tennis makes a sound when you hit the ball, too, right?" But the sound of pickleball is different in both volume and character.

When a hard plastic ball strikes the hard face of a paddle, it makes a sharp "pop." According to an engineer working on noise solutions in the United States, a single hard hit measures around 70 decibels even about 30 m (100 feet) from the court. That's about as loud as a vacuum cleaner, clearly louder than a normal speaking voice (60–65 decibels) and much louder than the sound of a tennis ball being hit (said to be about 40 decibels).

On top of that comes the character of the sound.

• High-pitched: The sound of a hard hit is around 1,100 to 1,200 hertz. USA Pickleball (the governing body in the United States) explains that a certain number of people find sounds at this pitch unpleasant.
• Sudden and irregularly repeated: With the usual measurement methods, which take an average, short, sharp sounds come out lower than the way residents actually perceive them. For this reason, international standards for assessing noise and similar guidelines include the idea of adding 12 decibels when assessing highly impulsive sounds like these, and a report by a U.S. acoustics consultancy says the sound of pickleball should be assessed the same way.

Courts near homes tend to draw complaints because they combine a volume that stays loud even at a distance with this character of sound.

In the United States, Noise Has Already Become a Social Issue

In the United States, where pickleball's popularity spread rapidly, complaints have piled up, mainly about courts close to homes, and local governments have even drawn up specific rules.

• Setting the distance from homes by ordinance: In 2022, Park City, Utah, passed an ordinance requiring outdoor pickleball courts built on residential property to be about 183 m (600 feet) from the property line of the neighboring home. If a noise study shows the standards can be met and the sound mitigation is installed, the city's review can reduce that to as little as about 46 m (150 feet).
• Requiring quiet paddles: In Laguna Beach, California, the city cut playing hours by about 30% at the courts in Lang Park, where complaints continued, and then, in 2025, passed an ordinance requiring the use of paddles in USA Pickleball's Quiet Category (explained in Solution 2) or approved quiet covers and the like.
• Closing courts after a lawsuit: In 2025, the city of Boise, Idaho, settled a lawsuit over noise by returning the courts at two parks to tennis-only use. That came after the city had tried limiting hours, closing the courts three days a week and even sound walls.

In Japan, the number of pickleball courts is only now starting to grow. An engineer working on noise solutions in the United States has also said that if pickleball spreads to cities in Europe and Asia, where housing is dense and people live with their windows open in summer, "it's going to be a problem." I believe that not causing that first dispute will decide whether the sport is accepted by local communities.

Solution 1: Prevent Problems with Location and Distance

The most effective step is simply to keep courts away from homes.

• How far away: Spendiarian & Willis, a U.S. acoustics consultancy, says outdoor courts within about 107 m (350 feet) of homes usually need noise mitigation and those within about 46 m (150 feet) need extensive mitigation, and it recommends not building them within about 30 m (100 feet). Those distances are hard to achieve in Japanese residential areas, so consider them in combination with the sound blocking below.
• If you block sound, use a heavy wall with no gaps: Hang heavy sound-blocking sheets on the fence or put up a sound wall, leaving no gaps at the ground or at the seams. As a guide for height and placement, the players should no longer be visible from the windows of homes (including second-floor windows). Contact points range from near the ground up to about 2.4 m (8 feet), and as long as a contact point is visible from a window, the sound will travel over the top of the wall (see the diagram below). Even then, a wall can only reduce the sound by about 8 to 12 decibels, and it's no substitute for distance.
• Screens don't block sound: Windscreens and hedges may block the view, but they're not considered noise control.
• Check the strength before hanging anything on chain-link: Hanging sound-blocking sheets on an existing chain-link fence makes it catch more wind, and the whole fence could blow over in strong winds. Before hanging them, check with the fence manufacturer or a structural expert.
• Indoors (gyms): Sound leaking outside drops sharply. However, sound escapes through windows or doors left open, and sound echoes inside the building, so play within the facility's rules. I've summarized how to find indoor courts in The Complete Guide to Indoor Pickleball.

Solution 2: Use Quiet Equipment

There's also equipment that makes the sound itself quieter.

• Quiet Category equipment: In September 2023, USA Pickleball created the Quiet Category. It recognizes equipment that sounds roughly half as loud or less to the ear, compared with the equipment commonly used in parks. The targets are lowering the sound of a hit from about 90 decibels with a typical recreational paddle to 80 decibels (a drop of 10 decibels is perceived as roughly half as loud) and keeping the pitch at 600 hertz or below. These figures are for comparing equipment, and they're different from how loud the sound is at a distant home. Besides paddles, quiet covers that fit over paddles and balls are also eligible.
• Check separately whether it's allowed in tournaments: The category was originally intended for recreational play, and even the OWL Sport paddle, the first product to be certified, was approved with some of the standards relaxed on the assumption that it would be used outside sanctioned tournaments. If you also play in tournaments, check that it's on USA Pickleball's approved lists, too (there are separate lists for paddles, balls and so on). I've covered ball standards, including quiet balls, in The Pickleball Ball Wars: How Official Balls Are Made, Tested and Why They Crack.
• Foam balls: One measurement found foam balls, made of foamed material, to be 8 to 9 decibels quieter than regular balls. However, they feel very different to hit and bounce very differently, so they're not suited to tournaments or tournament practice.

💡 Coach Yoshi's Tip Some of you may be worried that quiet equipment will change the feel when you hit. USA Pickleball describes the Quiet Category as recognizing products that "reduce acoustic output during play without negatively impacting performance," but some options, like foam balls, change the bounce itself. I think the realistic approach is to use your regular equipment for tournaments and tournament practice, and quiet equipment near homes. Equipment alone won't solve the noise problem, so consider it together with distance and sound blocking.

Solution 3: Prevent Problems with Time of Day and Etiquette

Along with location and equipment, how you use the court matters, too.

• Avoid early mornings and nights: The quieter the surroundings, the more the sound of hitting stands out. Japan's environmental quality standards for noise are also 10 decibels stricter at night: in residential areas, 55 decibels or less in the daytime (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and 45 decibels or less at night. Because these standards look at the average over each time period, they can't be compared with the sound of individual hits, but they're a guide to taking extra care during quiet hours. If you want to draw a line on time, Park City, Utah's ordinance also limits the use of outdoor courts on residential property to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. as a rule.
• Don't pack in too many courts or players: Four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court (Tennis Court Conversion vs. Dedicated Pickleball Courts). In the estimate by the acoustics consultancy mentioned in Solution 1, going from 4 courts to 8 increases the distance over which the same sound level carries by 30 to 40%.
• Be mindful of voices, too: It's not just the sound of hitting. Cheers and loud shouts during play also carry to nearby homes. Complaints about voices are said to often be about the language rather than the volume, so it's best to avoid rough language, too.
• A quick greeting and a posted notice: Letting neighbors know when you'll be using the court and posting contact information makes it easier for them to come to you directly if something bothers them. If you're organizing practice sessions with friends, the approach in my guide to finding and starting a club can also help.

Summary: Being Considerate About Noise Protects Our Courts

The sound of a pickleball being hit is loud, around 70 decibels for a hard hit even 30 m away, and it's also high-pitched and sudden. In the United States, it has already led to lawsuits and even court closures, but in Japan, there's still time to prevent problems.

The solutions are keeping courts away from homes and blocking the sound, using quiet equipment, and respecting the time of day and good etiquette. No single one of these is enough, so layer them to suit the location. If you're in a position to build or add courts, please read my guide to building your own court with this noise perspective in mind, too.

If you're about to choose a paddle or are torn about which one to pick, feel free to ask me (Coach Yoshi) on LINE. You can add us as a friend through Pickleball Lab's official LINE account. You can also add us with the green "LINE Official" button at the bottom right of the screen.

Related articles

• The Complete Guide to Indoor Pickleball | How to Find an Indoor Court for Rainy Days and Winter, and How It Differs from Outdoors — An option that keeps sound from getting out
• Tennis Court Conversion vs. Dedicated Pickleball Courts | Features, Costs, and How to Choose, Compared by an Authorized Dealer — Before you divide a tennis court into more courts
• How to Find or Start a Pickleball Club | A Guide to Finding People to Play With — For setting rules for your practice sessions
• Where Can You Play? The Complete Guide to Finding and Booking Pickleball Courts in Japan — Find a court you can use
• The Complete Pickleball Paddle Buyer's Guide: A Coach Explains 5 Key Factors for Success — The basics of choosing a paddle

References

1. USA Pickleball — USA Pickleball Announces Quiet Category for Pickleball Products (2023-09-25; creation of the Quiet Category and what it covers)
2. USA Pickleball — USA Pickleball Announces its First Certified Quiet Product - The OWL by OWL Sport (2023-11-14; the first certification)
3. USA Pickleball — How USA Pickleball Officials Are Working To Make The Sport Quieter (2024-03-13; 90 dB → 80 dB, 1,100–1,200 Hz → 600 Hz)
4. USA Pickleball — Quiet Category Equipment (list of certified Quiet Category products)
5. Spendiarian & Willis Acoustics & Noise Control — Pickleball Noise Impact Assessment and Abatement Planning (report prepared for the City of Centennial, 2023-07-11)
6. The Hustle — One man's quest to make pickleball quiet (2024-10-01; about 70 dBA at 100 feet)
7. Northeastern University — Noise from pickleball can be annoying. But is it torture? (2023-08-07)
8. KPBS — Homeowners are increasingly taking legal action over pickleball racket (2023-09-05)
9. Park City, Utah — Ordinance No. 2022-08 (Outdoor Pickleball Courts in Residential Areas)
10. City of Laguna Beach — First Reading of an Ordinance Requiring Use of Quiet Pickleball Paddles or Similar Equipment at Lang Park (city council materials, 2025-02-25)
11. Spectrum News 1 — Pickleball players in Laguna Beach must use quiet paddle (2025-06-03)
12. City of Boise — City of Boise Settles Lawsuit, Pickleball Courts at Two City Parks Transitioning Back to Tennis Only (2025-09-02)
13. Ministry of the Environment, Japan — Environmental Quality Standards for Noise (Japanese)