Tennis Court Dividers From Re-purposed Nets

Tennis court dividers help to keep tennis balls from traveling to other courts and disrupting play. To have custom dividers made can be extremely costly. Here is a simple, inexpensive solution that helps keep balls in their proper court - while also keeping old, used tennis nets out of the landfill.

• Old tennis net. One net can make four dividers
• ½" metal conduit - 8' - 10' lengths
• Metal conduit bender tool
• Good pair of snips
• #10 gauge wire
• Wire cutters
• Zip ties or the left over black cords from the tennis net

Take the used tennis net and lay it out. A standard tennis net is 40' long. You will need to remove the cable/cord that runs through the white top part of the net. There are also some thin fiberglass rods at the ends that kept the net upright. Remove all the black cords and save for later. Fold the net in half and cut. Fold those sections in half and cut. You should have four 10' sections of net.

You can used ½" conduit that is at least 8' long. Metal conduit is inexpensive and can be purchased at a hardware store. I was able to use some 8' conduit that had been used for something else. Probably 9' - 10' lengths would be ideal. Do a search on "how to bend conduit." It is surprisingly easy to bend. If you don't have access to a bender tool check your local tool lending library or maybe see if a local electrician can do it for you. Put a 90˚ degree bend in the conduit about 45" from one end. Drill a couple of ⅛" holes perpendicular to the bend.

Install your dividers. You may need to get permission from the Recreation Department of your city if the courts are public. Feed the conduit through the fence 9' above the surface of the playing court. Feed wire through the drilled holes in the conduit and attach to fence. (could also use zip ties but wire will hold up better) Feed the section of tennis net onto the conduit. For visibility make sure the white strip of the tennis net is facing the court. Since the net sections are 10' you will have about a 12" overhang of net. Carefully use a utility knife and cut an "X" into an old tennis ball. Place the tennis ball on the end of the conduit to hold the net in place and for a nice detail. Attach the net to the fence in several places using zip ties or the leftover black cording from the tennis net.

Voila! Instead of ending up in the landfill - your old, used tennis nets can have another very functional life as tennis court dividers. With permission from the City Rec Department - I installed these at public courts in El Cerrito, California. Every time I play there and see my dividers in action - it makes me very happy!!