Senior Pro, Coach, Educator, and Performance Expert Joins Team Engage
Engage Pickleball is proud to welcome David George, widely known throughout the pickleball community as “The Professor,” to Team Engage.
A top-ranked Senior Pro, accomplished coach, former professional tennis player, educator, and student of the mental side of performance, David brings a unique perspective to the Engage team. His approach to the game combines competitive experience, technical instruction, and a deep understanding of how athletes think, learn, and perform under pressure.
From the Classroom to the Court
David’s path to professional pickleball is anything but conventional.
He has taught philosophy and ethics at the University of Notre Dame and Ivy Tech Community College, holds a master’s degree from Princeton University, and earned his Ph.D. from Notre Dame. His research interests include education, sports performance, and positive psychology, with a particular focus on the mental dimensions of athletic performance.
That academic foundation has become an important part of David’s approach to competition and coaching, earning him a fitting nickname within the pickleball community: The Professor.
Long before pickleball became his competitive focus, David was an accomplished tennis player. He earned Division III All-American honors at the collegiate level before competing professionally on the satellite tennis circuit.
Today, he has established himself among the leading players in Senior Pro pickleball.
David is currently a top-ten DUPR-ranked Senior Pro in both singles and doubles, a 2026 Senior Pro Nationals silver medalist, and a contracted player for the Kansas City Stingers in the MLP Champions Series.
More Than 30 Years of Coaching Experience
David brings more than three decades of experience teaching tennis and pickleball and holds both PTR and PPR certifications.
Alongside his mixed Senior Pro partner, David travels the country teaching clinics and camps through PT & The Professor Pickleball. Their instruction combines high-level technical and strategic development with principles drawn from sports psychology, philosophy, and performance science.
David also contributes to the sport beyond the court as an MLP commentator and co-host of the PT & The Professor Podcast, where he helps break down the competitive, strategic, and mental sides of pickleball.
Using Sport to Make an Impact
David’s commitment to teaching extends well beyond competitive pickleball.
Each Saturday, he directs a pickleball and basketball program for youth at the Juvenile Justice Center, using sport as a platform for mentorship, personal development, and positive engagement.
It is an approach that reflects something Engage strongly believes in: sport has the ability to do far more than create great competitors. It can build confidence, discipline, community, and opportunity.
Welcome to Team Engage
David brings an uncommon combination of competitive achievement, coaching experience, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to growing the game.
As Team Engage continues to bring together athletes who represent performance both on and off the court, David is a natural addition to the team.
We’re excited to have David “The Professor” George representing Engage and look forward to supporting him through the next chapter of his professional career.
Welcome to Team Engage, Professor.
