Grass, sand, a sports hall floor or packed dirt. Anywhere flat with room to move around the net. The regulation court is a circle 8.5 m out from the net in every direction, about 17 m across, and your garden is almost certainly smaller than that. It does not matter.
The IRF rules draw three circles around the net, and all three are measured from the centre
of the court:
The outer boundary at 8.5 m. That is the edge of the court.
The service line at 2.6 m, which is 2.13 m out from the edge of the set. That is where the receiver stands.
The no hit zone at 1 m, the ring immediately around the net.
"So I need a 17 metre circle in my garden, Jakub?" No. You need a court that size to play a
sanctioned match. To play, you need enough room that nobody runs into a fence.
Six to eight metres in every direction is plenty for people who are starting, because
beginners do not yet hit the ball far enough to use a real court. The space requirement grows
with your standard. That is a nice problem to have, and it is months away.
Surface by surface
Sand. The most forgiving surface there is, and one of the two main
tournament surfaces. You can dive without thinking about it, which is exactly what a beginner
needs, because the fear of the ground is what stops people reaching for balls. The catch is
the legs sinking unevenly and tilting the rim. Stamp it flat, then set up.
Grass. The other tournament standard and the most common garden surface.
Fast, true, kind to knees when it is soft, less kind when the summer has baked it. If the
ground is hard, people stop diving, and the game quietly gets worse without anyone noticing
why.
Sports hall. How most of Europe plays from November onward. The floor is
perfect. What limits you is the ceiling, because serves and defensive touches go high, and a
low hall changes which shots are even possible.
Packed dirt or gravel. Playable. Nobody dives twice.
Concrete and asphalt. This is the one I would avoid. The set stands fine and
the ball behaves normally, so it looks like a good option, and then somebody goes to ground
after a ball and takes the skin off a forearm. Diving is not an advanced move you can put off
learning, it arrives in the first month. Give people a surface that allows it.
Will it wreck the lawn?
Not the net. It sits on small legs, it weighs almost nothing, and it never moves during a
point. The wear comes from feet, and it appears as a ring a couple of metres out where four
people spend an hour changing direction.
Move the set two metres the next time you play. That is the entire solution, and the grass
you used last week gets its fortnight off.
What about wind?
Wind matters here more than in most sports, and the reason is in the equipment: the ball
weighs 85 g. Serves and defensive touches go high, and anything that goes high is at the
mercy of a gust. Outdoor tournaments deal with this by playing through it and nobody enjoys
it much.
In a real blow, the empty set can also slide on hard ground between points. Weight the legs
with a bag, or take the honest option: treat the wind as a fourth player, stop counting, and
play for the rallies.
Shoes, or barefoot?
On sand, barefoot. That is what everybody does and there is nothing to think about.
On grass and indoors, any shoe with grip. There is no roundnet shoe and you do not need to
buy anything. If you already own court shoes from squash, handball, badminton or indoor
football, use those, because this game is sideways movement and hard stops rather than
running, and a running shoe is built for the one thing you will barely do.
Common questions
Pick the softest ground you have access to and put the net there. Everything else on this
page is a detail next to that one decision.
Quick guide: the world championship in brief
How much space do you need to play Spikeball?+
A regulation court is a circle with a radius of 8.5 m measured from the net, so about 17 m across. A casual game needs far less. Six to eight metres of clear space in every direction is comfortable for beginners, because rallies stay short and nobody is chasing balls at full speed yet.
What is the best surface for roundnet?+
Sand and grass are the two standards, and most tournaments are played on one or the other. Sports hall floors are the normal winter option. Packed dirt works. Concrete and asphalt technically work but punish diving, which is a large part of the game, so they are the one surface worth avoiding once players start going to ground.
Can you play Spikeball indoors?+
Yes, and a lot of European play happens in sports halls through the winter. The rules allow for indoor play and say tape may be used instead of drawn lines. The limits are ceiling height, since serves and hits go up, and the space around the net rather than the floor itself.
Does Spikeball ruin your lawn?+
Not from the net, which sits on small legs and stays in one place. Wear comes from feet, and it shows up in a ring where players move around the net rather than under it. Shifting the set a couple of metres between sessions spreads that out and the grass recovers.
What shoes should I wear for roundnet?+
On sand, barefoot is normal. On grass and indoors, any court or trainer shoe with grip works, and players who move a lot tend to prefer something with lateral support because the game is mostly sideways movement and stopping. There is no roundnet specific shoe.
Can you play roundnet in the wind?+
You can, and it changes the game more than in most sports because the ball is light, 85 g, and travels high on serves and defensive touches. In strong wind the net itself can shift on hard ground. Weight the legs, or accept that the wind is a fourth player and play for fun rather than for score.
Can you play on a beach?+
Sand is one of the two main tournament surfaces and it is the most forgiving one to learn on, because diving costs nothing. The one thing to watch is the legs sinking unevenly, which tilts the rim and makes the ball behave oddly. Stamp the sand flat before you start.
