Building a proper sand court is a little more difficult than expanding your yonger brothers sandbox from pint-sized proportions to court-side dimensions.

If not done correctly you'll be more concerned about quicksand and flooding than quick sets and float serves. And as abundant as it is at the beach, sand is not so common a commodity for you flat landers (especially the soft stuff you want to dive on), and it'll cost you.

1) The playing area consists of the court and a space around it measuring three meters (nine feet, 10 inches) in each direction. The space above the playing area should be free of obstructions. The playing area should be level and consist of good quality sand to a thickness which prevents players from contracting and underlying hard surface.

2) Dimensions of the court are 16 meters by eight meters and are measured from the outer edge of the boundary lines. The boundary lines should be made of brightly colored rope or material having similar characteristics (ropes can sometimes leave burns if you contact them accidently, thick nylon tape is what the professionals use). The boundary lines should not unreasonably impede play.

3) The plane of the net serves as an invisible center line of the court, dividing it into two halves.

4) Net supporters should be made of wood, metal, thick PVC, or other material that will withstand tension and not bend or break when stressed. Supports should be approximately 4 - 5 meters long and buried at least five feet deep ( but if Carl G got his way they woud be 10 meters deep and you would need a truck to get them in) . They need not be cemented in place. Supports should be free of hazardous portrusions. If you use guy wires, they should be made of bright colors or padded to prevent injury to players. All anchors for guy wires and boundary lines should be buried at least 6-8 inches under the surface of the sand and free of sharp edges.

5) The court area should be excavated to a three-foot depth with a drainage ditch leading away from the lowest point of the court. Perforated drainage pipe should be laid in a zig-zag pattern over the base of the area with one end capped and the other open to the drainage ditch. Proper drainage is extremely important, or you could find yourself playing in a swamp. (Even if the court is built above ground, sand will still retain water!)

6) Overlay the court area with a one-foot thickness of #57, or similar type, gravel. Above the gravel place burlap or some other screen-type cover to prevent sand from washing through onto the base. Deposit one-to-two feet of washed plaster (golf course or soft and fluffy horse sand is also acceptable) over the area and rake level. (When testing sand for purchase wear shorts and test the sand in both dry and wet conditions by diving onto it knees first, "no scrapes, no problem," scrapes, scrap it and keep shopping.) Economics may dictate the depth of sand used but keep in mind you'll be needing your friends to choose your place over the beach so the better your sand the better. Assuming the gravel base is in place, and you don't mind raking back the middle of the "dished court" from the sides every week, one foot of sand should be sufficient.

Sand is not cheap,and i have no idea how much it costs, but it's a lot. The playing area alone will consume approximately 100 tons of sand at a depth of only one foot. The formula for determining the number of tons of sand needed is: tons of sand = L x W x D divided by 27 x 1.5 (where L, W, and D are in feet).

7) Competition netting is nine-and-a-half meters (32 feet) long and one meter (39 inches) wide. The proper height for a men's net is 7' 11-5/8" (2.43 meters) tall and for women it's 7' 4-1/8" (2.24 meters) tall. The body of the net should be made of 10-centimeters (4 inches) square mesh and have trim doubled over to secure the mesh to the top and bottom cables. The cables may be either rope or aircraft cable. Net height is measured from the center of the court, at which point the net should be within .7 centimeters (one quarter inch) of the proper height.