“Be around the light bringers, the magic makers, the world shifters, the game shakers. They challenge you, break you open, uplift and expand you. They don’t let you play small with your life. These heartbeats are your people.” — Unknown
“I may be wrong and you may be right, and by an effort, we may get nearer to the truth.” — Karl Popper
“Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him of the entire weekend.” — Zenna Schaffer
Rock formations abound along the ledge of the trail
Naturally hikers focus on the view at the end of the Taft Point Trail, but before arriving at the very end and seeing the valley, interesting rock formations can be found across the chasm on the other side of the mountain.
In another place, these might have been the main attraction; location, location, location.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
JBRish.com originally published this post *All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
One of the topics in this segment of Jeff Shank’s tips is how to find the weaknesses in your opponent’s pickleball game and what to do once you have that information.
NOTE – When playing in a non-competitive environment, if I find that our team is much better than the other team or only one person on the other team, I work with my partner to alter our strategy:
1 – Don’t try to overwhelm a weaker player with the serve. Give them a chance to return the ball otherwise nobody is going to have any fun.
2 – Don’t hit every shot to the weaker player. Include the stronger opponent as well. I often go out of my way to hit to a stronger player especially when I know they are better than me. I feel really good if I can score a point off of a very strong player. Keep pickleball a fun game by hitting to both opposing players. One way to do that is to always hit to the person on the other team serving the ball.
3 – When I hit a ball to a weaker player, I will often hit a shot I think they can handle, i.e. less pace, etc. This gives me practice in learning to control my shot and it provides practice for the receiving player in returning the ball.
CAUTION: I have found myself in the following situation, but I don’t worry about it:
I have been on a team and we discovered that we are potentially much stronger than the opposing team. We may find ourselves ahead by five or six points so we begin to lighten up. At times, the opposing team is then able to muster enough good shots to make it a close game or even win. To me that’s OK. If it is a clubhouse game for fun, it doesn’t really matter.
NOTE: This is my personal philosophy and I am not suggesting it has to be yours.
4 – I sometimes use a game with less skilled players to practice shots I need to work on such as the third shot drop shot.
What does Jeff Shank say about the soft game? I know many players who will try very hard to avoid dinking and playing the soft game. Why does Jeff suggest the soft game is so important to learn?
What does he suggest when you mishit a ball?
What does Jeff say is “more important than just about anything else?”
Other topics include the importance of drills, how to anticipate your opponent’s shot so you can be ready and what to do when a high ball is headed to the non-volley zone on your side of the net.
NOTE – To find out about this series of posts, i.e. 100 Pickleball Strategies by Jeff Shank, read the first post HERE
To See additional Pickleball Videos Covering Many Aspects of the Game Click Here (primarily for beginners and less experienced players)
Part of the pay off for hiking to Taft Point; THE VIEW!
If you read yesterday’s post, you would probably have noted these quoted phrases describing Taft Point:
without the guardrails
dramatic vistas of Yosemite Valley
afraid of heights or not
And so it was! One thing about our National Parks which helps them be awesomely beautiful is that they don’t put fences or railings everywhere they can. There are some, but not an abundance. Part of the “thrill” of the alluring Taft Point panorama is the inherent danger.
There is one place, high and along the edge that does have a railing and is relatively safe. Hold onto young ones and those who might appear timid. One thing I have learned over the years is to respect the fear others may have. Don’t try to force anyone to take chances and leave the definition of “chances” strictly up to them.
While I am not afraid of heights and I do get fairly close to the edge, I don’t get quite as close as the people outlined along the precipice seen the upper-left of this photo.
The vista was so beautiful on this bright, sunny day that it is easy to appreciate why Yosemite is a favored destination of many.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
JBRish.com originally published this post *All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
There were areas with large crevices along the Taft Point Trail
In our research and also along the trail itself, there were warnings about “the Fissures.” If you aren’t familiar with the term, these are large crevices and the warnings are certainly warranted.
I am not sure you can see how dramatic it is in a two-dimensional photo, but in the middle, bottom of picture above is a large “crack” in the mountain which presents a dangerous, most likely deadly hazard for anyone who falls in. Signs warn parents to hold on to their children.
The close proximity of these dangers to the trail is something to note.
“It’s Glacier Point without the guardrails. Dramatic vistas of Yosemite Valley, especially El Capitan. Guaranteed to help you answer the question: Am I afraid of heights or not? And an excellent mildly sadistic people-watching spot, for seeing how your fellow hikers privately answer the same unsettling question.” Read more about it HERE.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
JBRish.com originally published this post *All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.
NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!
