Abstract. Between 11/97 and 10/99, 409 outpatients were treated by extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in the Department of Sports Medicine. This ultrasound guided treatment employed low to medium energy flux densities of 0.09 to 0.36 mJ/mm². Only patients refractory to standard conservative treatment underwent ESWT in order to avoid a surgical procedure. 65 of the 409 patients were competitive athletes. Besides the established indications for ESWT this modality was also applied in achillodynia, patellar tendonitis, periostitis, Osgood-Schlatter disease, and shoulder tendinitis. Results were compiled three months after ESWT using a standard questionnaire. This study demonstrates that in competitive athletes with tendinitis refractory to conservative treatment, ESWT will yield the same good results as in the classic orthopedic indications of shockwave therapy. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy should always be tried in (insertion) tendopathies before considering surgery with its long enforced break in training and competition.