Both courts and pools are popular additions to people’s backyards, you may find yourself torn between the two. While a choice few are lucky enough to not have to decide whether to install a court or a pool because they can afford to do both, that’s not the case for the vast majority of people. Since both courts and pools are expensive to install, you don’t want to choose one over the other only to regret it later.

If you’re stuck trying to decide whether to install a court or a pool, keep reading. We’ll go over some of the key factors to consider when making this decision.

What Sports Do You Like Best?

When deciding whether to install a court or a pool, be honest with yourself about the types of sports you and your family enjoy most. 

If you’re an avid swimmer but you don’t really gravitate towards pickleball, tennis, basketball, or other such sports much, a pool could be more than worth it to you. Regardless of whether you simply enjoy spending time in the water, you have a professional mermaid tail, you’re super into water-polo, or you like doing laps and practicing your strokes, having your own pool gives you the freedom of being able to jump into the water whenever you please. 

However, if you like swimming, but you like being able to play multiple sports on one court, a court could be a better choice for you. Even if you install a basketball court or a tennis court, you can play other sports on it. You can even draw lines for other sports on the court for when you want to play pickleball or badminton instead. If you know you like to bounce around between sports, you can have a multi-purpose court installed so you can alternate sports with ease.

Whether you install a court or a pool, they’re both major investments. Have a good, long think with yourself. If you like swimming, but your parents didn’t joke that you’re part fish growing up, it may be better to choose a court and just go to the gym or community pool when you want to swim. If you like sports like tennis and pickleball, but you feel most at home in the water, it may be better to choose a pool and just go to your community courts when you want to get a match in. 

What’s The Weather Like Where You Live?

This is another reality when you’re trying to decide whether to install a court or a pool. If you live somewhere like sunny California, you don’t have to worry about this, because you can use both a court and a pool all year round. However, if you live somewhere that gets all four seasons, like Utah, you’ll have to come to terms with the fact that you’ll only be able to use a pool for a couple of months out of the year. 

You can use a court far more often than a pool if you live somewhere with four seasons. You don’t have to wait for the weather to be warm enough or about something like pool heaters, because playing on courts warms you up. 

How Much Are You Willing To Spend On Maintenance?

Courts need to be resurfaced every 4-8 years, depending on wear and tear, how well they’re maintained, and environmental factors. This is a simple reality of having a court. Regardless of the quality of the court, each court will need to be resurfaced sooner or later in order to maintain its aesthetic appeal and to be safe for people to play on.

Fortunately, courts are pretty easy to maintain. You need to sweep away any dirt and debris and give them a good pressure wash every now and then. If they suffer any damage, like cracks, you will need to have them repaired sooner rather than later in order to prevent the damage from worsening. 

Pools, on the other hand, are notoriously high maintenance. You need to think about the type of water you have, whether it’s salt water or chlorine. You need to ensure that it has safe chemical levels. You need to clean out any bugs, dirt, and debris. You’ll also need to think about moisture protection for the surrounding areas. 

You’ll need to think about things like a pool cover, draining the pool and refilling it, electricity costs, and more. Another reality people don’t like to think about is if a child has an accident in the pool, you’re the one who has to worry about addressing it, rather than leaving it to the employees at a public pool. 

So, if you love swimming and court sports equally, but you’re not a fan of maintenance, the choice between whether to install a court or a pool is clear.

Don’t Forget About Danger

While pools may seem high status and oh-so-hip, the unfortunate reality is that you need to worry about the potential for injuries and drowning. People can slip and fall, take a dive into a pool that isn’t deep enough for diving, and be mindful of the risk of drowning. Children will need to be constantly watched.

Courts have their share of risks, too. If the surface is cracked or has depressions in it, people can trip and fall. Balls can accidentally hit people and hurt them. However, courts are not anywhere near as inherently dangerous as pools can be.

So, if safety is your top priority and you want the kids to be able to go outside and play without having to worry about keeping an eagle eye on them, you’ll want to opt for a court rather than a pool.

Do You Want A New Surface For Your Court?

While we here at Pickle Court Surfacing don’t install courts or pools, we do provide court surfacing and resurfacing services. We also provide courts accessories, like ball containment systems, nets, hoops, and more. Contact us today to learn more about our court surfacing services in and around Midway, UT.

For adults, most fond childhood memories likely involve playing outside with siblings or friends. However, children nowadays are spending more time than ever indoors than out. It’s a lot easier as a parent to simply hand your child an electronic device to keep them entertained than it is to encourage active play and going outside. While electronic devices have their benefits, it’s crucial for children to play outside.

Here is what you need to know about how playing outside can help child development.

Tech Isn’t The Devil – But Children Are On It Too Much

Technology certainly has its benefits. It allows people to stay connected, to learn, and to get inspiration. However, many sites are designed to suck you in so that you end up spending hours upon hours every day on your screens rather than living your life. According to Sanford Health, children only spend about 4-7 minutes in a day with unstructured play and well over 7 hours on electronic devices. 

All this time on screens has consequences for child development. Some of the negative impacts of too much screen time include:

• Decreased attention spans
• Lessened ability to control impulses
• Reduced empathy
• Increased risk of gaining too much weight
• Trouble sleeping
• Mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression
• Lack of responsibility and accountability
• Decreased confidence
• Decreased creativity and imagination
• Worsened relationships

While it can be fun to play video games, watch a favorite show, or see what people are up to on social media, even adults should only spend about 2 hours a day on electronic devices for entertainment purposes. For children, screen time should be less.

The Benefits Of Playing Outside For Child Development

Remember when you and your friends would climb trees or play make-believe, turning the playground into a castle under siege or a pirate ship sailing the high seas? What about taking advantage of the local courts or the backyard court at someone’s house? Chances are, these are some of your most cherished memories.

There’s good reason for this, including how they can benefit child development. Here is what you need to know about how playing outside helps children grow into kinder, happier, more responsible people.

#1. Gross Motor Skills

This refers to whole body movement, like climbing, jumping, and bouncing, all skills utilized in playing sports outside. It includes spatial awareness, which is the ability to be mindful of the environment around you in order to avoid walking into people or objects. 

When kids are inside on screens, they’re more likely than not just sitting or lying down for hours at a time. When playing outside, they’re almost constantly moving around, putting these skills to work.

#2. Language Skills

When kids play outside, they can talk freely with their peers. In their conversations, they can practice their language skills and learn how to interact socially.

While kids can learn how to interact with others online via texting and chats, it’s not the same thing as talking to people face-to-face and learning how tone and how one words things impacts how what you’re trying to say gets across. 

#3. Peer Relationships

Playing outside helps kids learn how to interact with each other and the roles they prefer to assume. Perhaps one kid likes to be the leader while another would prefer to just follow along or play by themselves. If multiple kids want to be the leader, playing outside helps them learn how to take turns and handle conflict. Kids learn how to form relationships with each other and how to interact with people on an interpersonal level. 

#4. Mood Regulation

This ties into peer relationships. When kids play sports outside, they need to learn how to regulate their emotions and impulses in order to have a good relationship with others. When kids are on electronic devices, this probably isn’t something that they’re learning, especially not with how vicious people on the internet can be. 

Instead of learning how to regulate their moods and impulses, kids may see comments of people, adults even, saying hateful things, and assume that they can act however they see fit and say what they want without consequence.

#5. Exercise

The CDC recommends that children get at least an hour of moderate-to-intense physical activity daily. While kids can get this inside if they’re horsing around, it’s a lot easier for them to do this if they’re playing outside. Exercise has a plethora of benefits, including improved physical and mental health.

#6. Taking Risks

While it’s only natural for a parent to want to protect their children, kids need to learn how to take risks in order to develop confidence and the bravery needed in order to face risks later on in life. The lessons learned from failure are just as important as the ones learned from succeeding.

#7. Improved Attention Spans

When kids have to go outside and keep themselves entertained, they’re able to learn how to stay focused on one thing at a time. Being able to focus is an essential skill people need throughout their life, in school, in work, and to do anything well.

#8. Sunshine

With an increased focus on the dangers of unprotected sun exposure, parents may not want their children going outside. However, sunshine is essential for your physical and mental health. It helps vitamin D production, which leads to healthier bones, and boosts mood, decreasing symptoms of depression. 

#9. Decreased Stress

While social media is wonderful for how it allows you to stay in touch with friends and family who live far away, it also leads to comparison and constant exposure to everything wrong with the world. Kids can become stressed from not knowing what to do and from comparing their life to others’. Playing outside decreases stress and gives kids the ability to just enjoy their life.

Make Playing Outside Easier For Your Kids

Installing a court in your backyard instantly gives your kids all sorts of fun to be had. Adults can enjoy it too, leading to an investment that pays off not just in childhood, like a playground, but throughout your family’s life.

Professional-Grade Court Surfacing Around Midway, UT

While Pickle Court Surfacing doesn’t install courts ourselves, we do provides court surfacing and resurfacing services, plus all the accessories you need to make your court fully functional. Whether you want to help your child’s development by encouraging them to play outside or you want something for friends and family to enjoy when they come over, we’re here to help you bring your dream court to life.

Contact us today to learn more about our sports purpose surfacing services.