How to Design Tennis Court Lighting That is up to ATP Standards
Finding well-lit tennis courts isn’t always easy. Just because some tennis courts have lights doesn’t mean that the visibility and lighting they provide will be good enough to play on. Many light installers don’t even fully understand what it takes to achieve good lighting for a competitive tennis match. The standards dictated by the ATP tour are high, but can be used as a reasonable comparison even for players at a recreational level. Achieving a set of standards that is at least similar to the guidelines outlined by the ATP will insure that a tennis court lighting system actually produces the expected result.
ATP Tennis Court Lighting Standards
The easiest definition of the standard is to remember that professionals should play in a minimum of 70 foot-candles of lighting. The foot-candle is a measure of the intensity of light inside a surface of a 1 foot radius sphere. This means that the illumination of the court should achieve, as closely and as uniformly possibly, at least 70 foot-candles. To measure how well the light is distributed, a series of measurements should be done around the court at different locations.
This series of measurements should be about three feet off the ground, or in the general playing area. Take fifteen of these measurements and compare the ratio of the highest to the lowest. The goal is to keep this ratio within a factor of two. This test insures that the dispersion of the light is even enough and does not produce any dark spots on the court.
Optimal Court Lighting Design
To achieve the best results in uniformity and save on power consumption, a smart design needs to be in place before implementing a lighting system. The most common design on a tennis court is to have four poles around 20-60′ high on each side of the court. These poles will have floodlights mounted on the top of them and should be spaced evenly off to the sides of the court. Sometimes for higher level events a design will use even more lights for a single court. The important thing to remember is that the player needs to maintain a good visibility of the ball at all times. If the lighting poles do not extend out beyond the baseline behind the player, it is absolutely impossible for the ball to be well lit.
When hitting a ball it is important that the side of the ball the player sees is fully and consistently lit. The only way to achieve this is to have one of the lighting structures extend behind the player on the court. This can be done by increasing the spacing between the poles, but they must be kept evenly spaced. Increasing the distance between poles will diminish the intensity, but it is a trade off that will often be worthwhile. For the recreational tennis court that isn’t used for professional competition, an intensity level below 70 foot-candles will usually be fine.
Plan a solid design and consult the necessary professionals before building a lighting structure. If you do all the necessary research, the end result will be a well lit and playable court environment. For more tennis information visit TennisShoeView.