The tennis net, posts and singles sticks
The net's two heights and the hardware that holds them — post height and position, the singles sticks that convert a doubles net, and the strap and band that finish it.
Overview
The court is divided across the middle by a net suspended by a cord or metal cable which passes over or is attached to two net posts at a height of 3½ feet (1.07 m). The height of the net is 3 feet (0.914 m) at the centre, where it is held down tightly by a strap.
Those two figures — 1.07 m at the posts and 0.914 m at the centre — are the whole geometry of the net. Everything else is about maintaining them.
Where the posts stand
The centres of the net posts are 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each side. For singles matches, if a singles net is used, the centres of the posts are 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court on each side.
The recurrence of 0.914 m — the centre net height and the post offset — is a coincidence of the imperial original rather than a design relationship: both are three feet.
Singles sticks
If a doubles net is used for a singles match, the net must be supported at a height of 3½ feet (1.07 m) by two singles sticks, whose centres are 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court on each side.
Singles sticks are not optional decoration. Without them, a doubles net sags across the singles court, and the net over the singles sidelines would be lower than the Rules require. They also have a consequence in play: a served ball that touches a singles stick before hitting the ground is a fault, and the Rules give this as a decided case.
The net itself
The net must be fully extended so that it completely fills the space between the two net posts, and must be of sufficiently small mesh to ensure that a ball cannot pass through it.
A band covers the cord or metal cable and the top of the net. The strap and band must be completely white, and the maximum width of the strap is 2 inches (5 cm).
Good to know
- The net is 0.914 m (3 ft) high at the centre and 1.07 m (3½ ft) at the posts.
- Post centres sit 0.914 m outside the doubles court on each side.
- Singles sticks hold a doubles net at 1.07 m over the singles sidelines.
- A serve touching a singles stick before the ground is a fault.
- The strap and band must be completely white; the strap is at most 5 cm wide.
Where it’s used
Sports that use the tennis net, posts and singles sticks:
Related equipment
Tennis racquet
A strung frame with a handle, used to hit the ball in tennis. Head size, weight and balance vary to suit different playing styles.
Tennis ball
A hollow rubber ball covered in felt used in tennis and related racquet sports.
Sports bag
A roomy bag for carrying kit, footwear and gear to and from training, usually with a separate compartment for wet or muddy items.
Sources
The rules, dimensions and specifications on this page were read from these documents.
- ITF Rules of Tennis — International Tennis Federation, 2026, Rule 1 — The court (read 2026-09-12)
How it connects
The meaning-bearing relationships that place The tennis net, posts and singles sticks in the wider knowledge graph — each one with the reason it exists.
Builds on
Understanding these first makes this one make sense.
Frequently learned together
Taught side by side in the same stage of a learning path.
- Tennis racquetBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Tennis learning path.
- Tennis ballBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Tennis learning path.
- Sports bagBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Tennis learning path.
- Tennis ball types and specificationsBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Tennis learning path.
- What the Rules regulate about a tennis racketBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Tennis learning path.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect The tennis net, posts and singles sticks to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Facilities
- Tennis court geometryEvery measurement on a tennis court and the rule that governs them all — court and service-box dimensions, line widths, the centre mark, and why measurements are taken to the outside of the lines.
- Badminton courtA rectangular indoor court, divided by a high net, on which badminton is played as singles or doubles.
- Tennis courtA rectangular marked court, divided across the middle by a net, where tennis is played as singles or doubles.
- The rugby union fieldThe dimensions and markings of a rugby union pitch — the field of play, the in-goal areas, the 22-metre and 10-metre lines, the goal posts, and what the Laws fix versus what they leave open.
- Volleyball courtA rectangular court split by a high net over which two teams rally the ball, played indoors or on sand.
Rules
- Touching the netA net-play rule that penalises a player for contacting the net during a rally in net-divided sports.
- Hindrance, lets and permanent fixturesWhat happens when something outside the rally interferes — the difference between a deliberate and unintentional hindrance, and the rule that a permanent fixture is never a hindrance.
Learning paths
Tactics
- Serve and volleyAn attacking tennis tactic where the server follows their serve to the net to finish the point with a volley.
- Doubles formationHow a pair positions itself on court — one up, one back, or both at the net — to control space in doubles.
- Tennis doubles formationsHow doubles teams position and why — the standard one-up-one-back start, poaching, the Australian formation and the I-formation, and what each one takes away from the returner.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Equipment
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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