Pickleball · since 2024
Courts are still scarce in the city. Ours is in Sarıyer, Kilyos — floodlit, outdoors, equipment included.
Why it's spreading so fast
Pickleball is played on a shrunken tennis court, with a light perforated ball and a solid short-handled paddle. The rules are simple, the ball is slow and the court is small — which means you're genuinely playing within the first half hour.
It is played on a badminton-sized court with a light perforated plastic ball and a solid short-handled paddle. Simple rules, a slow ball and a small court — you are genuinely playing within half an hour.
Rules, scoring and the non-volley zone are covered in our guide to pickleball.
It works in singles or doubles. The serve goes underarm and crosscourt. Only the serving side can score, and a game usually runs to 11, win by two.
The most distinctive rule concerns the zone in front of the net: you cannot volley from inside it. That stops taller or stronger players simply finishing points at the net and keeps the game level.
The other is the two-bounce rule — after the serve and the return, the ball has to bounce once on each side. It's what keeps rallies going.
Padel is played inside a glass-walled court where the ball stays live off the wall; the court is larger and the pace higher. Pickleball has no walls, a smaller court and a slower ball.
The practical split: two of you, pickleball; four of you, padel. The full comparison is in the blog post.
There are still very few courts in the city. A good share of what exists sits indoors, or is marked out temporarily on a tennis court.
That creates two problems for anyone wanting to play: availability is hard to find, and the chance to play on a proper court with permanent lines is limited.
Ours in Sarıyer, Kilyos is outdoors, floodlit and sits directly in the garden — around 45 minutes from the city centre.
Pickleball's most striking quality is the age range it accommodates. Because the ball is slow and the court small, it is one of the most approachable racket sports for children, beginners and anyone returning to sport after a while away.
For the same reason it works unusually well within a family: a ten-year-old and a forty-year-old can have a genuinely balanced match. That's much harder in padel.
If you've never played, our coaches will run a short introduction. The equipment is ours — bring nothing.
The court is open daily 09:00 – 00:00 and floodlit, so evening play is fine. Paddles and balls are available to hire.
Two of you is enough to book. See the bookings page or just call.
Afterwards, sit in the cafeteria, book a table in the restaurant, or if you've travelled in, stay in the bungalows.
On site
Open daily 09:00 – 00:00, lighting included for evening play.
Paddles and balls available to hire. Bring nothing.
Never played? Our coaches will run you through it in a short introductory session.
Padel courts are on the same site, so you can try both in a day.
Padel →Common questions
A racket sport played on a small court with a light perforated plastic ball and a short-handled solid paddle. Somewhere between tennis, badminton and table tennis. It can be played in singles or doubles.
The serve goes underarm and crosscourt. Only the serving side scores, and a game usually runs to 11, win by two. The signature rule is that you cannot volley from the zone in front of the net.
Padel is played inside a glass-walled court where balls off the wall stay in play. Pickleball has no walls, a smaller court and an open layout. Padel sits closer to tennis; pickleball is the easiest of the two to learn.
There are still very few courts in the city — a handful of venues, most of them indoors. Ours is outdoors and sits directly in the garden.
It works in both singles and doubles, so two of you is enough to book a court.
Yes. Because the ball is slow and the court is small, pickleball is one of the most approachable racket sports for children and beginners.
No. Paddles and balls are available to hire; trainers are all you need.
Book a court
We have the equipment and the coaches. All you need to find is an hour.