subject: Missouri Homeowner Gets Tennis Court Lighting System Customized For Adjacent Batting Cage [print this page] Tennis court lighting kits by commercial lighting equipment companies frequently must be modified to do more than light a standard tennis court. One reason for this is the varying sizes of residential tennis courts themselves. Courts tend to feature a size that is suited to the homeowners preference for exercise.
Many courts also feature play areas for other games. Numerous organizations build custom home courts that are multi-game play areas designed to suit the athletic pursuits of entire families. Such courts can be very complex challenges to light because different types of sports require different levels of luminance, and they often require different fixtures as well.
In a recent project by a commercial lighting firm, the design team was called upon to configure a custom tennis court lighting system for a home sport court that featured a full-sized tennis court and side batting cage.
A homeowner in Missouri found the firm on the Internet and contacted them directly. Based upon their case history and reputation for configuring systems with products made in the USA only, he felt comfortable working directly with this company's team of professionals.
The resident had already estimated that he would need six fixtures for his tennis court lighting system. He did not need any type of decorative equipment; his concern was about lighting both athletic areas with the proper amount of visibility without glare.
He asked if the lighting designers at this firm could determine which series of fixture, and which degree of luminance, would best meet his needs within these basic parameters.
Using advanced photometric design software, designers ran simulations of various tennis court lighting systems that featured a six pole layout around the court. Knowing the optimal levels of light for safe and comfortable play based on ITF (International Tennis Federation) standards.
Being familiar with the distribution of light offered by various fixtures, professionals were able to narrow down fixture choices to a system series that would create a glare free field best suited to the homeowners particular court.
They then had to render the customization of this system to also light the batting cage. This would have to be done with separate fixtures. The light would have to be directed into the cage in such a way as to avoid creating a compound field of light that would generate glare or white spots on the court.
In other words, it was necessary had to keep the light from the tennis court and the batting cage from combining into a field of two much light.
Photometric software allows us to not only try different types of fixtures, but also move them around in three dimensions to see exactly where they should be positioned to achieve the desired effect. We can also experiment with different types of mounts to achieve the precise lighting angles necessary for custom projects like this.
What eventually evolved in this tennis court lighting project was a six pole system surrounding the court, with 1000W HID Metal Halide fixtures. The vendor proposed used a fixture type known as the CXL series, which features basic lamp housing with a utilitarian intention. The poles were 20 feet high, which is standard for tennis courts.
For the batting cage, the vendor proposed the same types of fixtures, but recommended they be fence mounted them at 14 feet so the resident could adjust them when necessary. This custom mounting eliminated the need for more expensive specialty fixtures that could potentially have cost the client a great deal of money.
