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Banana Daddy 🍌 Zack Ballantine

@servingbanana

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🍌 Banana-powered tennis chaos
🎾 2.5 → 3.5 | Coached by a 🐔
📍 Palm Springs | @cctennis.club
💛 Tennis is for everyone. Even bananas.

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Perfect ending to day 1 @bnpparibasopen . 15 🌻 handed out with the last one going to @cocogauff 🤌🏼. Glad she liked the terrible banana pun I slipped in. 😆 Good luck Coco!
#bnpparibasopen #indianwells #indianwellstennisgarden #cocogauff #tennistournament taken in Indian Wells Tennis Garden by @servingbanana

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7 months ago

The 2016 🍌 origin story for all of my new friends.
So let’s get serious for a minute... I wore this banana suit for the entire month of September. Not because I’d lost the plot, but because of Suicide Awareness month.
Before Burning Man, I was unbelievably depressed. A few of you know to what extent. I almost didn’t even make it to Burning Man. Searching for meaning, purpose, friends, and happiness in a city I might not belong in. One day while going to grab a bite to eat with a friend, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a clown having a drink alone at the bar. I immediately burst into laughter and it made my entire day.
Most of you that have known me for longer than a month know that I give flowers to strangers as a random act of kindness project. 4000+ and counting. Why? Because you never truly know what someone is going through and that one gesture can make all the difference. (There’s a 5% cry rate) It has a ripple effect that trickles down to the people around them. When I’m feeling down, I can still find purpose in their joy. Sometimes, it’s the only way l’ve found to survive a week.
At Burning Man... I found myself. Not just as a 🍌, but as a human with a purpose. Being accepted for who I am. To love and be loved. To bring joy to others. To start sleeping in a bed after 3 yrs of making myself sleep on a couch because I didn’t feel l deserved a bed. To talk to strangers. To share what you have. To dedicate time to my eye project that I hope will teach people to love each other for the soul that they are rather than the race, religion, income level, or role they take on in society that we’ve let divide us. To bring a little light into a dark world. To have a purpose. To give meaning to this life.
Wearing the banana suit through the airport was liberating. To accept that other people’s perception of you is not your own reality... but that’s not the part I enjoyed most. It’s the laughter, the smiles, the “WTF?”s, the horrible puns, and ultimately bringing light to a touchy subject that is often out of sight out of mind: those who hurt and can’t speak up for themselves. I was that. And one day, a clown made all the difference for me.
Part 2 - in comments by @servingbanana

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9 months ago

@swingvisionapp helps me ripen my game and avoid those costly slip-ups. 🍌 Having all that post-match data to peel back the layers of what’s actually happening on the court has been monumental for my development. 🧠

Beyond the stats, it’s about the strategy: analyzing footwork, evaluating shot selection, and finding opponent weaknesses to exploit next time… all while pinpointing my own to strengthen. Plus, there’s nothing better than being able to relive those incredible highlight points.

Don’t let your progress go soft. 💪

👇 Get a discount on your subscription and a free Swing Stick ($100 value) by using the link in my bio! #SwingVision #TennisPlayer #TennisTraining #SportsData #TennisLife taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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10 months ago

I love my boy Loki, but it’s fun microdosing the big dog experience too. 💛
#slowmo #bernerdoodle #dogsitting taken in Palm Springs, California by @servingbanana

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a month ago

Really missing New Zealand today 🥲
#rotorua #newzealand #tenniscourt #timelapse #travel taken in Rotorua, New Zealand by @servingbanana

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a month ago

Day 972 of tennis 🎾

The summer heat has thinned things out, but the diehards still showed up for the 17th edition of Sunset Singles. Thanks @andi_reiss for helping me get my steps in. 🥵

Everything around here is doubles. I spotted the gap, took the gamble, and put 207 hours into coding the software that runs this thing like clockwork. 🤓 Do it right, or don’t do it at all. And the wonderful feedback has validated my efforts and helped shaped the program.

I LOVEEE singles, and I’m so happy that my debut program turned into something for the whole tennis community and not just for me. Players coming back to the sport. A beginner with a phenomenal server who had nobody to hit with before. A tricky customer who didn’t gel with the other programs but keeps coming back to mine. Countless new friends. Two otherwise dead nights turned into full courts to support my club. 💛

Having changed the format, I’m now the floater to make the numbers right. Some weeks I get to play, and some I have to spectate. 🥲 And while I would always rather play, it was emotional the first time I sat out and got to take it all in and watch people I love enjoy something I dreamed up. 🥹

Thank you so much to the 41 different players who’ve come out so far, and to our sponsors @puntogrips @thesandwichspotps @petecarlsonsgolftennis for making it possible. 🫡 (always looking for more 😉)

My passion is tennis, but more importantly, making it more accessible to the community. I feel compelled in my heart to change tennis for the better, and I’m just getting started. More coming soon. 🙏🏼🥹💛

#tennispoint #tennisprogram #sunsetsingles #tennis #tennisplayer taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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a month ago

Who put that there?!? 😅

So bummed I missed that volley 🥲
#liveball #slip #tennisfail #bananapeel #tennis taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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a month ago

Day 979 of 🎾

There’s 3 times as many thoughts as this, but the audio didn’t dub over each other well. 🫪 I also see pattern overlays on the court like dance dance revolution, but that’s another convo/reel. 😅

Anyone else have #ADHD ? 😂

#tennis #tennisplayer #tennislife #tennispoint taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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a month ago

The 18th edition of Sunset Singles was a blast! 😊

To wrap up the night, we played an adaption of this game I learned in Dallas a couple years ago called 105. One of my absolute favorite games because mistakes are only worth 1 point, but winners are worth 5, 10, or 15 so you’re rewarded for playing aggressive and fighting to prevent winners. 💪🏼
(All credit to Christy 🫡 at Huffines @richardsonparksandrec who runs this with 15+ people feeding 2 courts at a time. 🤯)

Having a dash of ‘tism, I LOVE to count things so it also satisfies that quirk too. My 2nd ever iPhone/watch app I built last year was to log scores on my watch and display the scoreboard on an iPad. (I still have to figure out how to get it to display on the watch over a live SwingVision recording) In an ideal world, I could get API access to @swingvisionapp to build it into. 😉

Would you play Schfifty-Five? I’m thinking about making it a program. 🤔

#tennis #tennisplayer #tenniscourt #palmsprings #sunsetsingles taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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2 months ago

I love that in tennis you just have to improvise sometimes. 😅 Honestly kind of wish Trevor’s ricochet counted because it was impressive. 👏🏼
#tennis #tennisplayer #sunsetsingles #palmsprings #swingvision taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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2 months ago

Day 1 of posting underarm serves until @diademsports sends me a Project @bublik 98 😅

I have NOT made friends with this serve, but Bublik is my hero and I don’t choose where you stand to return. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Also @bnpparibasopen , still so sorry about the sunflower! 🥲 I was holding two, which apparently means funeral. Sasha told me himself. (I was trying to give him one to give to his wife) One of those went to @cocogauff so everything happened as it was supposed to. 🌻

I hope you’ve gotten to use your @realbananaphone 🍌, but I forgot to give you the note of why I was giving it to you. 😩

Throwback to last year when Coach Carl 🐔 first got a voice. He’s southern now. (The rubber chicken is my target for practice. He travels in my bag to make people think I’m crazy and get in their heads. No one likes losing to the banana guy with the emotional support chicken.)
#underarmserve #bublik #diadem #projectbublik #please taken in Ruth Hardy Park, Palm Springs by @servingbanana

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2 months ago

It’s 107 degrees out, you’ve just played 2 hrs of liveball, and you still haven’t had enough. Grateful that @michaeloncourt is just as mental as I am and always wants to hit after. 💛 We play till we’re both tired, then play till both of us get a clean winner to finish the night.
#tennislife #swingvision #tennis #palmsprings #tennisplayer taken in Cathedral Canyon Tennis Club by @servingbanana

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2 months ago