Reducing noise while playing pickleball can be a bit of a balancing act. It can be difficult for those playing the game to understand the level of aggravation some of the closest neighbors are feeling. Understanding your options is absolutely key so that you can figure out what works best for your pickleball courts and your neighborhood.

1. Be strategic about the pickleball court’s location. Sound reduces by 6 dB every time you double the distance from the noise source. We recommend 500 feet or more for pickleball.
2. Use softer pickleball paddles and balls. Softer material make less noise and will reduce the “pop” sound.
3. Build a barrier around your pickleball courts. A good soundproof fence will reduce noise by 8-10 dB and a full enclosure can get to a 12+ decibel reduction.

We’ve helped many pickleball courts reduce unwanted noise through our Quiet Quilt Soundproof Blankets. They’re effective, durable, and come in 16 different color options so you can get the perfect aesthetic for your pickleball courts.

Sounds below 50 decibels generally are covered up by the general background noise in a neighborhood and generally do not result in complaints from neighbors. We have heard plenty of complaints from people within 250 ft of a court, but not many at 500 ft or more.

Soundproofing the fence around a pickleball court is a game-changer, and is the only way to put an end to the noise problem. The good news for pickleball courts is that you almost always have an existing fence structure (typically chain link) that’s plenty tall and surrounds the court an easy soundproofing upgrade. If you are considering building a new fence, there are some basic rules.

1. Height matters: We recommend 2x taller than any noise sources for best results. (and it must be at least 1.5x higher). For pickleball, we recommend an 8 foot fence.
2. 100% coverage is required: Gaps in the barrier will allow sound through. We want to break line of site with the neighbors, while ensuring sound can’t go AROUND the fence. At the very least you need a 3-sided barrier, and a full enclosure is preferred.
3. Closer to the court is better: By being closer to the court, you’ll get better results with less materials.
4. Density is required: The chain link fence is not blocking any sound. We have to put a dense, airtight barrier. To know if a material is a good barrier, it should have an STC rating. The STC rating indicates the material has been professionally tested to determine how much noise it blocks.

We’ve written a whole article on fence soundproofing, so you can continue reading if you’d like to keep researching.

We have two recommended options for soundproofing a fence around a pickleball court. There’s the premium option, which gives the best performance and aesthetic and then there’s the budget friendly option which will get the job done.

Quiet Quilt Soundproof Blanket

Our Quiet Quilt Outdoor Soundproof Blanket is the top-of-the-line option for exterior soundproofing. We manufacture this product with reinforced mass loaded vinyl and a vinyl quilted face for top end STC and NRC ratings. It also comes with outdoor rated Velcro and grommets, making it easy to hang on your fence while ensuring no gaps for noise to pass through. You just secure the Quiet Quilt blanket to the fence, and then seal the gap between the blankets with the overlapping Velcro ends.

Our soundproof blankets are easy to install, rated for 15+ years of outdoor use, come in a variety of color options, and can be custom manufactured to fit any fence height. If you're soundproofing a pickleball court, Quiet Quilt is the solution you want! Reach out to us to get a conversation started for your courts!

Luxury Liner Mass Loaded Vinyl

Our Luxury Liner Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) is another excellent soundproofing material for blocking noise. It's a popular choice for fences, either sandwiched between two layers of a wooden fence or installed with grommets on a chain link fence. Mass loaded vinyl is our material of choice when a court is on a tight budget, but needs to fix their noise issue. We can sell them the MLV rolls at a great price, and then they add grommets using a grommet punch kit. If you're looking for pickleball noise reduction, many of the fence providers are offering mass loaded vinyl (sometimes with pre-installed grommets). There are two big concerns with mass loaded vinyl fences (one of which isn't fixable):

There is one big concern with MLV for a pickleball soundproofing project. MLV fencing is great at blocking sound, but without the absorptive facing of our Quiet Quilt Soundproof Blanket, you get a lot of reflected sound off the face of the MLV (instead of being absorbed). We have helped several customers who used a competitor product, and then had to completely replace it because their sound issue had actually been INCREASED - both for the neighbors and for the people on the court. MLV fencing can work with 100% of the surrounding fence covered, but you must do 100%! And even then, you will still have the drawback of a louder court experience due to the reflected sound. That's why we always recommend the Quiet Quilt Soundproof Blankets as the best option, where you benefit from BOTH sound blocking AND sound absorption.

There you have it! Now, go forth and pickleball in peace! And if you’d like to have a discussion with a soundproofing expert, we’re here to talk you through your options. Just submit your information in the online form below or give us a call whenever’s convenient!

Call us at 1.800.679.8511