Techniques On How To Tie Tennis Shoes

Most athletic shoes are manufactured using a cross-laced pattern. Although it might seem inconvenient, lacing your tennis shoes in a pattern that is compatible with your specific width and arch-type, provides benefits for long-term foot health. According to The Footbed Clinic, "using the wrong lacing pattern for your foot shape can cause discomfort, blisters and, at worst, injuries". There are a variety of lacing techniques that are specifically designed to accommodate each specific foot type.

Wide Forefoot

Lacing the top portion of the tennis shoe, while leaving the bottom unlaced, allows a wider forefoot to expand during movement. Thread a shoelace straight across the two holes closest to your toes. Make sure the laces are equal length on both sides. Feed the laces upward along the inside of the shoe, skipping the next two eyelets. Towards the top of the shoe, begin alternating the laces in a criss-crossing method and secure them at the top.

Narrow Feet

Dick's Sporting Goods recommends buying a pair of tennis shoes that have a zig-zag pattern of eyelets and using the eyelets set wider apart on the shoe for narrow feet. Lacing the outer holes only brings the sides of the shoe closer together for a tighter fit. Begin by crossing the laces through the first eyelets. Skip an eyelet set and criss-cross the laces through the next outer eyelet. Continue this pattern to the last set of holes and secure.

High Arches

Threading laces straight across removes pressure points at the top of the foot caused when laces cross over each other on top of the shoe tongue, according to New Balance's lacing techniques guide. Guide your shoelaces in a straight line from eyelet to eyelet. Insert one lace into the first hole from the inside-out and pull directly across and into the opposite hole. Bring the lace along the inner layer, skipping the next eyelet and repeat the process using both laces until you reach the last eyelet and secure.

Low Arches

Low arched feet may require a more secure fit around the ankle, and lacing techniques are similar to those of a narrow heel, according to Dick's Sporting Goods. Use a normal criss-crossing method until halfway up the length of the shoe. For the remaining two or three eyelets, a loop-lacing method is used to create a tighter fit. Thread laces into the holes without criss-crossing. Do not pull the laces all the way through, leaving a loop on each side. Cross the laces and thread them each through the loop on the opposite side before securing.