What role do playing times play in perceived noise nuisance?

Playing times play a major role in the noise nuisance perceived from a padel court. Evenings and weekends generate the most complaints, because local residents are at home and background noise is lower, which makes padel noise sound relatively louder. In this article we answer the most frequently asked questions about playing times, noise standards, permits and technical measures that you can deploy as a club or operator.

How does the perception of padel noise differ at different times of day?

The perception of noise from a padel court differs greatly depending on the time of day, because the amount of background noise in the surroundings constantly varies. During the day there is more ambient noise from traffic, business activity and other activities. As a result, the noise from a padel court is less noticeable. In the evening, background noise drops, so padel noise is perceived as relatively louder, even though the absolute noise level has remained the same.

This phenomenon has a technical background. In the Netherlands, noise standards are not only expressed as an absolute number in decibels, but are also assessed in relation to the prevailing background noise. With a low background noise level, a padel court can quickly exceed the permitted limit values, while the same court falls well within the standards during the day.

Padel also mainly produces impulse noise: short, recognisable peaks that arise from racket contact and from the ball hitting glass or fencing. Local residents find impulse noise disturbing, even when the average noise level is relatively low. This makes evenings particularly sensitive, because the combination of low background noise and recognisable impulse noise increases the likelihood of complaints.

Which playing times generate the most complaints from local residents?

Most complaints about noise nuisance from padel courts come from weekday evenings and from weekends, in particular Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. In these periods local residents are more often at home, windows and doors are more often open and background noise is lower. That makes padel noise more recognisable and more annoying.

Sunday morning is a period that regularly features in objections and complaints to municipalities. Local residents who want to sleep in or sit outside in peace at that time experience the noise from a padel court as a direct disturbance of their rest. The same applies to late evening, when courts are played on until 22:00 or later.

For tennis clubs and commercial operators, it is useful to take these sensitive periods into account when planning playing times. Not only to prevent complaints, but also because, when a permit is applied for an outdoor padel court, the municipality often asks at an early stage about the expected times of use and the associated noise load.

What does Dutch legislation say about noise standards and playing times?

In the Netherlands, noise standards for sports facilities are regulated through the Activities Decree (Activiteitenbesluit milieubeheer) or, for more recent projects, through the rules under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). The standards distinguish three periods: day (07:00 to 19:00), evening (19:00 to 23:00) and night (23:00 to 07:00). Stricter standards apply in the evening period than during the day, and the strictest standards apply at night.

For sports activities, a surcharge on the standard noise limits applies in many cases, but the exact application differs per municipality and per situation. In an environmental permit, municipalities can include additional conditions on playing times, the maximum number of courts that may be played on at the same time or mandatory noise measures.

In practice, restrictions on playing times are regularly imposed as a condition when an environmental permit is granted. Think of a ban on playing after 22:00, or a limit on the number of playing hours on Sunday morning. It is therefore wise to prepare a permit for a padel court carefully during project preparation, including a substantiation of the expected noise load per part of the day.

Can sound-absorbing panels reduce the impact of evening hours?

In certain situations, sound-absorbing panels can help reduce the noise load during evening hours, but whether they are sufficient to meet the applicable standards depends on the project-specific situation. An independent acoustic study is needed to determine which measures have an effect at a specific location and to what extent.

Sound-absorbing panels are a source measure: they are placed directly on or around the padel cage and limit the spread of sound at the source. The advantage of this principle is that, in some situations, a relatively compact solution can be more effective than a large freestanding noise barrier placed further from the court.

In a practical measurement at LTC Hofgeest in Velserbroek, an indicative noise reduction of approximately 3 dB(A) was measured within the configuration studied, after correction for background noise. These results apply exclusively to that specific situation and may not be used as a general guarantee for other projects. Every location has different conditions, and the final performance is determined by the position of the panels, the surroundings, the distance to homes and the other measures applied.

A technical point of attention when applying sound-absorbing panels is the extra wind load that arises. Panels reduce the wind permeability of the structure, which means considerably greater forces can act on the steel structure and foundation. The structure must be calculated for this before panels are mounted. You can find more information about the technical background on the page about acoustic solutions for padel.

How are playing times set out in an environmental permit?

Playing times are set out in an environmental permit as a requirement: a binding condition the operator must comply with. The municipality draws up these requirements on the basis of the acoustic study, the location of the site and the applicable noise standards. If the study shows that the noise load in the evening hours is too high, the municipality may set as a condition that no playing is allowed after a certain time.

In practice, restrictions on playing times are often combined with technical measures. A municipality may, for example, allow playing until 22:00 provided that sound-absorbing panels are applied on the side facing the homes. The combination of a restriction on playing times and a source measure can thus keep the total noise load during sensitive hours within the standards.

It is useful, when preparing a permit application, to think already about which playing times are realistic for operations and to combine this with an acoustic substantiation. An independent acoustic consultant can calculate which combination of playing times and measures is feasible at the location concerned.

What is the difference between a source measure and a restriction on playing times?

A source measure tackles the noise at the source, while a restriction on playing times limits the nuisance by shortening the period in which noise is produced. Both measures can reduce the noise load on local residents, but they work in a fundamentally different way and have different consequences for operations.

A source measure, such as integrated sound-absorbing panels, lowers the noise level that the court emits. The advantage is that the court can be played on for longer without the noise load on local residents increasing. The investment lies in the technical measure itself, but the operating possibilities remain wider.

A restriction on playing times involves no costs for technical modifications, but it does limit income and use of the facility. For commercial operators who depend on evening hours, a restriction on playing times is therefore a direct blow to the business case. For tennis clubs it can mean that popular evening competitions are no longer possible.

In practice, both measures are regularly combined. A municipality may agree to longer playing times when it can be demonstrated that technical measures sufficiently reduce the noise load. An acoustic solution for padel can thus increase operating scope compared with a situation in which only playing times are restricted.

When is an acoustic study mandatory for an outdoor padel court?

An acoustic study is in most cases mandatory when an outdoor padel court is built near homes or other noise-sensitive uses. The municipality requests this study as part of the permit application, so that it can be assessed whether the noise load on local residents stays within the applicable standards. For a location near homes, an acoustic study is almost always part of the permit process.

Padel produces more noise than tennis. The ball hitting glass and steel, combined with the enclosed cage structure that acts as a resonating box, results in an average sound power level of around 91 dB. That is roughly 10 dB more than with tennis. This makes an acoustic assessment almost always necessary for outdoor padel, even when the location is not, at first sight, directly next to residential buildings.

An acoustic study is carried out by an independent acoustic consultant. We do not carry out acoustic studies ourselves, but we provide the technical product specifications, structural data and information about the available noise measures, so that a consultant can include these correctly in the calculations. This also applies to the configuration of sound-absorbing panels and its structural consequences.

If you already know at an early stage that an acoustic study is needed, it pays to include the court configuration and the possible noise measures in the engineering phase. That way you avoid modifications to the structure being needed afterwards. You can find more information about the building process and technical preparation on the page about having a padel court built.

Are you unsure whether outdoor padel is feasible at your location?

We are happy to help you think through the court configuration, structural preparation and possible noise measures. Together with your acoustic consultant, we look at which solution is technically feasible and fits the project. Get in touch via the page about acoustic solutions for padel for an initial no-obligation exploration.

Frequently asked questions