Kho-Kho Court Dimensions
Official AKFI Kho-Kho court measurements for senior and junior formats
Kho-Kho Court Dimensions
Official AKFI Kho-Kho court measurements for senior and junior formats
What are the Official Kho-Kho Court Dimensions?
Kho-Kho is one of India's oldest traditional sports, played on a rectangular court measuring 29 metres long and 16 metres wide (including a 1.5-metre lobby on each side). The court is divided into two equal halves by a central lane running the full length, with 8 wooden poles (post sticks) evenly spaced along this central lane. The attacking team's chasers sit alternately facing opposite directions between these poles — a unique formation seen in no other sport in the world.
The Amateur Kho-Kho Federation of India (AKFI) and the Asian Kho-Kho Federation standardise court dimensions for national and international play. The court surface is typically natural grass or synthetic turf, kept flat without any markings except the boundary lines, central lane, and free zone at each end. The two wooden poles at each end (the post sticks) are the turning points for the active chaser — touching a post costs no time but changes direction of pursuit.
The sport gained mainstream attention with the Ultimate Kho-Kho (UKK) franchise league launched in 2022, India's first professional Kho-Kho league. This revival brought standardised court specifications into focus for facility builders across India. Kho-Kho requires minimal equipment and infrastructure compared to other sports — a properly dimensioned court, 16 post sticks, and boundary markings are all that is needed.
How to Read This Diagram
Key Court Zones
- • Central lane: 30cm wide, full length — chasers seated alternately here
- • Free zone (end): 2.75m deep at each end — active chaser turns around post here
- • Lobby: 1.5m each side — in play for defenders, not chasers (until direction change)
- • Post sticks: 8 poles at 2.30m intervals — chasers cannot cross these, must go around
- • Playing area: 26m × 13m inner rectangle — the core active zone
Why the Pole Layout Is the Whole Game in Kho-Kho
Kho-Kho's court isn't just a boundary — the 8 poles spaced along the central lane are what actually create the sport's signature chase-and-dodge gameplay. Because a chaser physically cannot cut through a pole and must go around it, the poles force predictable turning points into an otherwise free-for-all pursuit, which is exactly what gives skilled defenders room to fake a direction change and exploit the half-second it takes a chaser to commit to going around one side or the other.
The lobby areas work the same way as their equivalent in kabaddi: they're dead space until a genuine chase is underway, at which point they open up as real playing area. This dual nature means the court's effective size actually changes moment to moment during a match, even though the marked dimensions themselves never move.
?Frequently Asked Questions
The 8 wooden poles (post sticks) along the central lane are the structural heart of Kho-Kho's tactical game. Sitting chasers position themselves between these poles, and the active chaser must navigate around them — they cannot pass through a pole. The poles create natural barriers that force chasers to commit to a direction, which defenders exploit to create unpredictable movement patterns. The two end posts serve as turning points — the active chaser touches an end post to reverse direction of pursuit.