Introduction
The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association is asking for pickleball lines that can easily be seen by all pickleball players under all lighting conditions.
According to the American Institute of Architects:
"Aging eyes lose the ability to discriminate pale colors [...]. They are also unable to differentiate shades of blue, green, and purple as these cooler colors can read gray. People with color deficiencies are best able to perceive bright colors at the warm end of the spectrum, such as reds and oranges."
We therefore ask that Seattle Parks take particular care in choosing a pickleball line color that elderly and visually impaired players can reasonably distinguish from the court surface.
Disclaimer
This document focuses only on the choice of line color. Other factors that are important as well but are not addressed here are:
- Lines from tennis and pickleball overlapping each other.
- Line intersection
Green Lines
When the city of Seattle first started painting pickleball court lines on tennis courts in 2017, it painted light green pickleball lines on darker green tennis court areas. Take a look at the picture behind this text.
The white tennis lines are prominent. The green pickleball lines recede.
Can you see the pickleball baseline?
The pickleball baseline is right in front of the red line.
Can you see the pickleball baseline now?
(If you want, click
here
to access a version of the picture that will let you zoom in.)
Can you see the tennis lines on this tennis court?
Can you see the pickleball lines on this same tennis court?
(If you want, click
here
to access a version of the picture that will let you zoom in.)
The horizontal green line near the bottom of your screen is your pickleball kitchen line.
The horizontal green line above that would be your opponent's kitchen line.
The horizontal green line above that and about 8 feet in front of the tennis net is your opponents' baseline.
Can you see them all?
Here we have highlighted the top two pickleball lines in yellow for you.
Can you see these pickleball lines now?.
Which lines are easier to see? The white ones or the green ones?
If you could choose line colors for your games, would you prefer having white lines or green lines?
Pickleball players asked Seattle Parks to use a different pickleball line color for many years to no avail.
Until one day, someone mentioned that these green pickleball lines on a green background were probably not ADA-accessible.
A few days later, Seattle Parks started painting new pickleball lines in blue.
As of 2022, there are still plenty of Seattle pickleball courts that sport green pickleball lines.
Blue Lines
In 2019, Seattle Parks started painting pickleball court lines in blue. This provided for better contrast with the green tennis court area.
The white tennis lines are still prominent.
The blue pickleball lines recede less than the green ones.
Problem solved? Let's scroll and see.
Here you are looking over the pickleball net at your opponent's side of the court.
How much more prominent are the white tennis lines than the blue pickleball lines?
How clearly can you see the pickleball lines?
Can you see your opponent's baseline?
Let's move in closer. It might help.
Can you see your opponent's baseline now?
(If you want, click
here
to access a version of the picture that will let you zoom in.)
Your opponent's baseline is located just below the yellow line.
How much easier would it be to see this baseline if it were painted in white instead of blue?
What other color than blue or white could be used to improve the visibility of this pickleball baseline and all other pickleball lines as well?
Seattle Parks so far has been saying that if it makes the pickleball lines more visible, it will confuse players of both sports.
Seattle's public athletic fields use different color lines for different sports without making any one color dominant
and without confusing players of any sport.
Seattle's community center's gyms use different color lines for different sports without making any one color dominant.
Why should it be different for courts that are used for both pickleball and tennis?
Why is Seattle Parks insisting on making tennis lines stand out and pickleball lines recede?
Why are tennis players so special?
Meanwhile, Shoreline has transitioned to a yellowish/brown line color for pickleball.
Issaquah has picked orange for pickleball lines as you can see in the video below.
Here is one more pictures of a court with blue pickleball lines for your enjoyment.
Can you see all the white lines?
Can you see all the blue lines?
Which are easiest to see and why?
Conclusion
Seattle Parks' current choice of the color blue for pickleball court lines is still not good enough. Pickleball players deserve court lines that are as easy to see as the tennis lines are.
The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association asks that Seattle Parks choose a new pickleball line color that can easily be seen by all pickleball players under all lighting conditions.
According to the American Institute of Architects:
"Aging eyes lose the ability to discriminate pale colors [...]. They are also unable to differentiate shades of blue, green, and purple as these cooler colors can read gray. People with color deficiencies are best able to perceive bright colors at the warm end of the spectrum, such as reds and oranges."
We therefore ask that Seattle Parks take particular care in choosing a pickleball line color that elderly and visually impaired players can reasonably distinguish from the court surface.