Month: January 2017

Pickleball – The Voice of Experience – Hammer and Lucore

Jeff

Alex Hammer and Jennifer Lucore write the column Around the Post for Pickleball Magazine. In the December, 2016 issue, they wrote an article:

What Did the Gold Medalists Learn at Nationals VIII?

The article provides bits of wisdom garnered from the tournament participants. Here are two examples:

“Never stop being a student of the game: As the game and players continue to evolve so must your game; what worked last year probably won’t be enough this year. There is an endless amount of video at your fingertips; study individuals to see what mechanics and shot selections worked and which did not in each situation.”

Matt Staub – Gold: Doubles 19+; Bronze: Open Doubles & Mixed Doubles 19+

“I think the best lesson I learned was about recovering from a close loss. After you get all the way to the semi-finals or winners bracket final and you have a close loss, it’s hard to get motivated and reset for that next match. It’s never over in pickleball though so you’ve got to let that first loss go and keep fighting. In that same vein, you’re never out of a game. I came back twice from being down 10-7 (match point) in this tournament and a few other times from being 6 or 7 points behind. Just focus on playing each point well, and good things can happen.”

Daniel Moore – Gold: Doubles 19+ & Singles 19+; Bronze: Open Doubles & Open Singles

Due to space limitations, there were hints and ideas that could not make it into the magazine. Jennifer Lucore has published the more detailed article (including the two tidbits presented above) on her website and you can read it here:

What Did the Gold Medalists Learn at Nationals VIII?


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To See additional Pickleball Videos Covering Many Aspects of the Game Click Here (primarily for beginners and less experienced players)

Check out Additional Pickleball Info and Videos! (for all players including average to more experienced players)

(Hetch Hetchy – O’Shaughnessy Dam) – Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 186

Jeff

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Walking from the parking area near the main hiking trails, hikers will soon see the entrance to the pathway and the O’Shaughnessy Dam which corrals the Tuolumne River to create the reservoir. According to Wikipedia, Hetch Hetchy provides water for more than two million people in the San Francisco area.

The creation of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir was controversial and there is a movement today to try to restore it to its original splendor. You can find out more about this effort by visiting Restore Hetch Hetchy. They have a photograph of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Valley before it was flooded.

 
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.

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Meta Data – Day 186 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Exposure: 1/60 sec @ f/22
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STATUS QUOtes — 20170113

Jeff

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

“Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act.” — Albert Einstein

“Sometimes we have the dream but we are not ourselves ready for the dream. We have to grow to meet it.” — Louis L’Amour

“A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.” — Alexander Pope

“My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne.” — Tina Fey

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE

Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 185 (Off to Hetch Hetchy)

Jeff

Entrance to Hetch Hetchy

Hetch Hetchy Welcoming Archway

If you are heading north from Yosemite Valley to the more remote Hetch Hetchy area, you will come to this wooden “gateway” welcoming visitors. This is not to be confused with the official entrance where the rangers greet visitors entering the district. This is primarily a decorative archway that adds to the ambiance.

 
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.

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Meta Data – Day 185 YOY – Year of Yosemite

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Capture time: 10:25:42 AM
Capture date: June 11, 2016
Exposure: 1/60 sec @ f/20
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO 450
Nikon D3300

 

STATUS QUOtes — 20170112

Jeff

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

“Words must be weighed, not counted.” — Polish proverb

“Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” — Henry Ford

“Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know. — Pema Chodron

“From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.” — Sir Winston Churchill

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE

Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 184 ( El Capitan Photo – Better)

Jeff

A better photo of El Capitan

A wider view of El Capitan

The photograph of El Capitan above is certainly more visually pleasing than the photograph posted yesterday as part of YOY Day 183. The differences are obvious. The trees can be easily used as a “yardstick” to gain a sense of scale. The orientation of the frame, i.e. portrait mode accentuates the vertical height of El Capitan.

This is not to say that this is a dramatic photograph of El Capitan, but it is certainly better as a measure of the strength, size and grandeur of the mountain.

 
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.

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Meta Data – Day 184 YOY – Year of Yosemite

File Name: 0302.NEF
Capture time: 11:09:05 AM
Capture date: June 8, 2016
Exposure: 1/200 sec @ f/9
Focal Length: 32mm
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Nikon D3300

 

STATUS QUOtes — 20170111

Jeff

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

“There is no sauce in the world like hunger.” — Miguel de Cervantes

“Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” — Oscar Wilde

“Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.” — John Wayne

“Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that.” — Ellen DeGeneres

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE

Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 183 (El Capitan – OK Photo, Not Great)

Jeff

El Capitan from the meadow

While hiking the meadow area, El Capitan appears and reappears in many places

The picture above is anything but an awe-inspiring image of El Capitan. Part of the problem is, once again, the context of the mountain. We can see that it is large, but it is lost among the tops of the trees. There really is no clear definition of where the ground is and thus we are left to intuit how tall the trees are.

The full height of El Capitan is not appreciated. Because the trees are in the foreground, they look relatively large in comparison to El Capitan. This could serve as a picture of record to explain the jaggedness of El Capitan along with other physical features, but it does not present the monolith as the huge presence it is in the valley.

 
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.

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Meta Data – Day 183 YOY – Year of Yosemite

File Name: 0296.NEF
Capture time: 10:50:49 AM
Capture date: June 8, 2016
Exposure: 1/60 sec @ f/16
Focal Length: 22mm
ISO 100
Nikon D3300

STATUS QUOtes — 20170110

Jeff

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

“Never confuse the improbable with the impossible.” — Burke’s Law , 1963

“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave ’em all over everything you do.” — Elvis Presley

“Don’t be afraid of the answers. Be afraid of not asking the questions.” — Jennifer Hudson

“A fool and his money is a friend indeed.” — Unknown

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE