When I first decided to convert part of my driveway into a usable basketball space, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of “official” dimensions floating around online. Everyone, from the NBA to FIBA to high school associations, seems to have a slightly different blueprint. But here’s the personal truth I landed on after years of coaching youth teams and missing more than my fair share of driveway jumpers: for a home setup, chasing absolute, professional-level precision is often less important than understanding the principles behind the half-court design and adapting them to your space. The magic happens in the relationship between the lines, not just the lines themselves. I remember watching a college game once, a real nail-biter where UP fired a 5-0 blitz from 21-24 down to save three set points and draw first blood from out of nowhere over the Taft towers. That explosive comeback didn’t happen in a vacuum; it was a product of spacing, player movement, and tactical execution—all concepts directly tied to the court’s geometry. The three-point line defined the shooters’ range, the key restricted the giants, and the half-court line created the pressure-cooker environment. That’s what we’re trying to capture, even in a scaled-down version.
Let’s break down the core components, starting with the total playing area. A full FIBA international court is 28 meters by 15 meters, which translates to roughly 91.9 feet by 49.2 feet. A standard NBA half-court, therefore, is about 47 feet wide by 50 feet long, if measured from the baseline to the half-court line. Now, I can almost hear you thinking, “My backyard isn’t 50 feet deep!” And that’s perfectly fine. The critical takeaway isn’t the exact footage but the proportions. The key, or the paint, is a rectangle 16 feet wide (19 feet from the NBA’s wider lane) extending 15 feet from the baseline to the free-throw line. That free-throw line is a constant 15 feet from the backboard, a sacred distance in basketball lore. Getting this right is more crucial than you might think. It’s the distance every player, from my 10-year-old niece to Stephen Curry, practices relentlessly. If your home hoop’s free-throw line is off, your muscle memory for that shot gets completely messed up. I’ve made this mistake myself, initially painting a line at what I “felt” was 15 feet, only to realize later it was closer to 13. My shooting percentage visiting other courts suffered for weeks.
Then we have the arc, the great equalizer of modern basketball. The three-point line distance is where leagues diverge most. The NBA arc peaks at 23 feet 9 inches from the basket’s center, while the FIBA distance is a flat 6.75 meters, or about 22 feet 1.75 inches. For a home court, I’m a strong advocate for using the FIBA or NCAA distance (22 feet 1.75 inches for the straightaway) unless you’re specifically training for NBA-range shots. It’s simply more achievable in constrained spaces and still provides a meaningful challenge. I marked mine at 22 feet even, a compromise that feels right for casual games. The corners are another story. In the NBA, the line curves to a minimum of 22 feet in the corner, creating a shorter, strategic shot. In my setup, due to a pesky flower bed my partner refused to relocate, my corner three is practically a long two. It changes the defensive strategy immediately, funneling drivers toward that sideline. It’s not regulation, but it taught me more about real-game geometry than a perfect replica ever could.
The other markings are often overlooked but vital for serious practice. The lane lines, those hash marks on the sides of the key, are for block/charge calls and post positioning. The half-court circle, a 6-foot diameter center circle, is crucial for jump balls. Do you need them for a shootaround? Maybe not. But if you want to run drills that simulate in-game situations, they provide essential spatial references. I skipped them at first, but adding simple spray-painted dots for the lane lines transformed my post-up drills. Suddenly, I had a tangible boundary to work against. The backboard itself has its own rules; an NBA-standard backboard is 72 inches wide by 42 inches tall, with the rim set 10 feet high and projecting 4 feet from the baseline. That 4-foot distance is critical—it allows for drives along the baseline without crashing into the support pole. My first hoop had the rim almost flush with the pole, and let me tell you, it made finishing layups on that side a hazardous endeavor.
So, how do you apply this? First, measure your available space ruthlessly. Clearance is king. You need at least 10 feet, ideally 15 feet, beyond the baseline to safely chase a loose ball and avoid a fence or wall. The same goes for sidelines. Once you know your canvas, start from the center. Fix your hoop and backboard. Then, using chalk or painter’s tape for a trial run, mark your baseline, then measure back that sacred 15 feet for the free-throw line. Build your key from there. The three-point arc can be sketched using a string tied to the base of the pole. Remember, functionality trumps fanfare. A perfectly painted court that leaves no room to move is useless. My own court is a hybrid—a precise key and free-throw line, a slightly shortened three-point arc, and no formal half-court line because the driveway simply ends. We use a crack in the concrete as our mid-court marker. It’s imperfect, but it works. It creates a space where the principles of the game—spacing, shooting depth, defensive positioning—are all present and accountable. That comeback by UP I mentioned earlier, that blitz under pressure, it was born from players intimately knowing their space and its limits. Your home court’s goal isn’t to host the Finals; it’s to create a framework where those moments of surprise, skill, and frantic comeback can spontaneously arise, right in your own backyard. That’s the real victory.