Bocce Ball Court Dimensions

The Layout control beside the drawing switches between the USBF court and the Special Olympics court; the measurement tables under the drawing list both, so pick the one your rulebook uses before marking out.

USBF’s official court measures 86.92 ft (26.5 m) by 13.12 ft (4 m), the same length as CBI’s international raffa lane; CBI’s width runs across a range, and USBF’s number sits at its minimum. Special Olympics plays a smaller 60 ft (18.29 m) by 12 ft (3.66 m) court.

Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas' construction manual gives a minimum court area of 60 by 10 ft and a recommended maximum of 95 by 15 ft. (CCB construction manual, General)

USBF's rules add one exception to its own 86.92 by 13.12 ft footprint: courts built for unofficial play may run smaller. (USBF court rules, p. 1)

Where USBF permits volo shooting, it uses the same foul line for that and for raffa, rather than marking a separate line for each. (USBF court rules, p. 4) On the USBF court that line sits 13 ft (3.96 m) from each back wall; on the Special Olympics court, 10 ft (3.05 m) from each backboard.

The centre line marks the near edge of the legal pallino area, and the far foul line closes its far edge. Between them lies the legal pallino band, running from 43.46 ft (13.25 m) to 73.92 ft (22.54 m) from the near back wall on the USBF court: land the opening throw anywhere inside it, and neither line may be touched.

Special Olympics draws its 10 ft and 30 ft lines the full width, sideboard to sideboard, at 50 mm wide. (SO 2024 rulebook, §3.1)

CBI caps every line at 1.5 cm wide and requires a matching vertical reference mark on the side boards for each one. (CBI Raffa rules, §5.5)

USBF’s 86.92 ft (26.5 m) by 13.12 ft (4 m) footprint isn’t an imperial measurement at all. CBI sets the raffa lane at 26.50 m long and 4.00 to 4.50 m wide, with 24.50 to 28.00 m permitted with prior CTI authorisation. (CBI Raffa rules, §5.1)

Italy's federation builds the raffa lane 27.50 m long and allows the tilting end boards to be moved inward when the play zone needs shortening, matching CBI's 26.50 m international lane. (FIB impianti (Italian), §3.1; CBI Raffa rules, §5.1)

Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas headlines its own construction manual with a 13 by 91 ft court. (CCB construction manual, heading) That’s the figure many US builders repeat, but it comes from CCB’s own construction lineage, not from USBF or CBI.

CBI keeps the side boards fixed, built of wood or another non-metallic material, 25 cm tall with a tolerance of ±2 cm. (CBI Raffa rules, §5.2)

CBI's end boards are rubber, hinged so they swing, and kept clear of the ground and side walls to stop the bowls and pallino bouncing back unevenly. (CBI Raffa rules, §5.2)

A backyard build can go without full CBI boards. Special Olympics recommends end walls at least 160 mm high, and requires side walls at least 80 mm high. (SO 2024 rulebook, §3.1) Without boards you lose the bank shot off the sideboards the rules allow, so agree whether a lawn court has any before play.

USBF lists carpet, crushed stone, dirt, oyster shells, clay, synthetic carpet and poured surfaces among those used in the US. (USBF court rules, p. 1) Special Olympics also accepts stone dust, dirt or an artificial surface alongside clay and grass. (SO 2024 rulebook, §3.1)

For a built court, Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas' manual lays 100 mm perforated drainage pipe on the prepared formation first, for a 75 mm fall, then covers it with a 225 mm layer of free-draining gravel or crushed rock. (CCB construction manual, §§3–4) The manual then compacts a clay, sand and salt surface course to 25 mm and checks it level to within 6 mm over 3 m (10 ft) using a 3 m straight edge. (CCB construction manual, §8)

Italy's federation requires indoor raffa lanes to be level; outdoor lanes may slope up to 0.15% along their length and 0.5% across their width. (FIB impianti (Italian), §6.3)

1. Peg string lines around the rectangle. Compare the diagonals before fixing the corners; equal side lengths alone can leave a skewed court.
2. Measure each foul line from its own backboard, then check the centre line from both ends.
3. Mark the sideboards as well as the surface so a thrower can judge foot position without looking down.

Both published courts leave room to build smaller: the CCB minimum above sits well under USBF’s court and matches the Special Olympics length, and USBF’s own text agrees a house court can run smaller still.

What doesn’t shrink with the court: both codes measure the foul line and the pallino area from the ends, not as a share of the total length. Cut the court in half and the same foul-line and pallino-area distances no longer fit, so agree a proportional scale-down, or a house line, before you peg the corners.