​This book, published in cooperation with ESSKA, is a comprehensive, evidence-based manual on the prevention of injuries and overuse in sports that will assist physicians, physiotherapists, and trainers in providing excellent mental and physical guidance to athletes. The causes of overuse and sports injuries are carefully analyzed, explaining the medical basis for prevention. In addition, detailed attention is paid to the relationship between sport motivation, risk willingness, tendency to overload, and tendency to increased risk of injury. The reader is effectively trained in mental and physical analysis of the athlete and will gain an appreciation of the influence of the athlete’s environment on susceptibility to injury. Gender-specific differences and the specific risks faced by children and adolescents are identified, and very popular sports such as soccer, alpine skiing, and throwing sports are discussed in individual chapters. Training schedules of value in the context of particular physiotherapeutic and medical interventions are described with the help of illustrations and charts. The authors are team physicians, coaches, sports scientists, training scientists, and physiotherapists involved in high-performance sports and recreational sports.

Hermann Otto Mayr, MD, PhD, is a renowned Orthopedic Surgeon and Trauma Surgeon who has been Executive Physician of the Clinic for Orthopedic Surgery, Munich, Germany, since 2003. He is also a Research Associate in the Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and in 2012 was appointed Extraordinary Professor at the university. Dr. Mayr is currently Chair of the ESSKA Sports Committee and President of the German Knee Society. He also served as President of the German-speaking Arthroscopy Association from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Mayr has been physician to the German skiing team since 1990. He has been responsible for various inventions and is the holder of several patents.