Todd Welvaert, twelvaert@qconline.com

Photo: Todd Welvaert Rachel Clay, 13, shows the paddles and ball used to play pickleball. Silvis recently striped tennis courts to allow the game, which is a cross between tennis, ping-pong and badminton.

Photo: Todd Welvaert Rachel Clay and Barb Brooks return a volley to Ian Clay in a game of Pickleball. Silvis recently added the game, which is a mix of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, to city tennis courts.

Photo: Todd Welvaert Therese Roman, Silvis, lines up a shot during a pickleball match Thursday. Silvis recently stripped tennis courts to allow for the game, which is a mix between tennis, ping-pong and badmniton.

Forget your gherkins, keep your dill and leave the bread and butter at home, for this pickle all you will need is a ball and racket and. thanks to a handful of folks in Silvis, there's already a place to play.

Pickleball is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, played on a court about a third of the size of a modern tennis court.

Played by grade-school children through senior citizens, the game is very similar to tennis but with a few distinctions. The paddles are smaller than a tennis racket and are made out of wood, plastic or graphite. The balls are similar to a plastic wiffle ball that allows for a lot of quick and short volleys.

Thanks to Bob Roman, Kathy Hall, Liz McGehee, and Bobette Miner, members of the Silvis Park and Recreation Board, city workers in Silvis painted yellow lines to mark the boundaries for pickleball on the tennis courts at Friendship Park at 14th Street and Crosstown Avenue, and Schadt Park, at 12th Street & 4th Avenue. Rules are also posted on the fences at these parks.

Therese Roman and Kathy Hall said their families found the game while vacationing and liked it because the entire family, from young to old, could play and have fun.

Mrs. Roman said, although popular with retirees, the game has younger fans and is taught and played in gym classes at UTHS.

According to the USA Pickleball Association, pickleball got its start in 1965 when Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington State, and Bill Bell, a successful businessman, found their families sitting around with nothing to do. The Pritchards' property on BainBainbridge Island, Wash., had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets. They improvised, cutting shafts of the damaged rackets and found a perforated plastic ball. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard"s home. Soon, the three men created rules, relying heavily on badminton. They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together.

The game got its name from the Pritchards' cocker spaniel named Pickles, who would take the ball and run off with it because it was Pickle"s ball.

Mrs. Roman said they had to find paddles and balls online.The price varies from $10 for a plastic paddle to $150 for a graphite one.

If you would like to learn more, call (309) 792-8393.