Shoe Lacing Systems
What are laces good for?
Laces help keep your shoes securely on your foot. They should apply pressure evenly and appropriately. Not too tight, not too loose. Just the way the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears would have described it.
Once you have found the perfect lacing system you are sure to discover it changes before very long. Running shoe manufacturers often change the position, orientation and spacing of the eyelets and the lacing system. One would like to believe it is an evolution to greater comfort, efficiency and fit. But appearance and marketability plays at some role.
Over the past few years though, the lacing system that many manufacturers have been adopting returns to a long established standard and is much easier to modify.
Selected Lacing Systems:
- Traditional
- Conventional diagonal (Chevron)
- Conventional Parallel
- Reduced Pressure Parallel
- Skip Lacing Pattern
- Loop Lock Lacing
- Double Lacing (for wide forefoot and narrow heel)
What Problems Can Laces Cause?
Too loose overall:
- Foot slips around in the shoe
- Plantar fasciitis
- Tendonitis
- Posterior Tibialis tendinopathy
- Flexor Digitorum Longus tendinopathy
Too Tight overall
- Uncomfortable
- Parallel lacing can help
Anterior ankle pain
- Nerve compression
- Tendon compression
- Cure : lower lace by an eyelet
Midfoot compression or hot spot
- Pain in midfoot
- Compresses nerves and tendons
- Cure : skip lace pattern
- Make sure you remove the laces from any “tongue guide” loop
Tight toe box
- Pinched nerve
- Neuroma
- Bunion pain
- Hammer toes
- Aggravate incurvated toenails
Band elastic laces
- Often too loose
- Too tight
- Uneven compression
Barrel clips or locks
- Can feel like big lugs banging up against your foot
- They can be irritating, aggravating, and annoying
Slipping heel
- Use a lock loop at the top
Wide Forefoot, Narrow Heel
- Double lacing (2 sets of laces) for each foot