---
title: "Shoe Lacing for Fit: Heel Lock & Wide Feet | Sole Oddity"
description: "Heel lock lacing for heel slip, gap lacing for a high instep and lacing for wide feet: pick your fit problem for a printable step-by-step lacing diagram."
url: https://soleoddity.me/shoe-lacing-for-fit/
---

Lacing diagrams

# Shoe lacing for fit: heel lock, high instep and wide feet

Lacing can fix more than looks. For a **slipping heel**, a heel lock uses the top eyelets to pull the collar round your ankle. For **pressure on top of the foot**, gap lacing skips one crossover so nothing presses on the sore spot. For a **wide forefoot**, leave the bottom eyelets empty. Pick your problem to see each step drawn out.

## Which lacing for which problem

| Problem | Lacing | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Heel slips out | Heel lock (lock lacing) | Closes the collar round the ankle without lacing the whole shoe tighter |
| Pressure on a high instep or one spot | Gap lacing (window lacing) | Takes the laces off the sore spot |
| Wide forefoot, squeezed toes | Skip the bottom eyelets | Stops the laces pulling the sides in across the toes |

The methods follow Ian Fieggen’s descriptions on [Ian’s Shoelace Site](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/) (fieggen.com/shoelace), a long-running site devoted to shoelaces and lacing methods. Our diagrams are our own, drawn from above with the toes at the bottom and six pairs of eyelets. If your shoes have more or fewer, keep the same idea and adjust the rows.

## Heel lock for heel slip

Ian’s Shoelace Site calls this lock lacing, and lists the other names you will meet: lace lock, loop lacing lock, heel lock and runner’s tie. Its purpose, in Ian’s words, is locking the heels for less slippage in running or climbing shoes. The version drawn here is his “high lock”:

1. Criss-cross as normal until the ends come out of the second-from-top eyelets.
2. Run each end straight up the outside and in through the top eyelet on the same side, which leaves a short vertical section on each side.
3. Cross the ends and feed each one under the vertical section on the opposite side.
4. Pull the ends down and outwards, which draws the loops tight round the ankle, then tie as usual.

Nike’s running guide also describes a heel lock, feeding each lace end through the top loop on the same side, and treats the “runner’s loop” as a separate variation; the names overlap, the principle doesn’t change. If your heel still slips with the lock done up firmly, the shoe may be too long: [measure your feet](https://soleoddity.me/how-to-measure-feet-for-shoes/). Heel grips, which Dr. Martens suggests while new boots soften, are the other easy fix.

## Gap lacing for a high instep

Ian describes gap lacing as skipping a crossover to create a gap in the middle of the lacing, either to bypass a sensitive area of the foot or to increase ankle flexibility. There are no laces running across the gap to press into the foot, and the gap can sit wherever you need it. Nike calls the same idea window lacing. In the planner above, choose where it presses and the gap moves:

1. Criss-cross until the ends come out just below the sore spot.
2. Run each end straight up the outside to the next eyelet on the same side.
3. Criss-cross from there to the top and tie.

If the whole top of the foot is tender rather than one spot, Ian’s straight bar lacing, which runs the laces straight across rather than crossing them, is another option he describes for relieving pressure on the upper ridge of the foot.

## Lacing for a wide forefoot

Nike’s advice for a wide foot is to start by skipping a set of eyelets at the bottom and crossing the laces over. With the lowest eyelets empty, the laces no longer pull the sides of the shoe in across the widest part of the foot. Ian’s progressive lacing takes the idea further, skipping lower eyelets so the crossovers get steeper towards the toes; he says this directs the tension along the shoe rather than across it, which reduces inward tension and may help those with a wide forefoot. His knotted segment lacing is another route: lace the lower half looser for a wide forefoot, lock that tension with a reef knot, and lace the top firmer.

## And laces that come undone

If the problem is the bow rather than the fit, look at it: a bow that sits crooked, pointing heel to toe, is a granny knot. Ian’s Shoelace Site says reef knots stay tied while granny knots tend to slip and come loose, and the fix is to reverse your starting knot. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, studied how shoelace knots fail when you walk or run. The repeated impact of the foot loosens the knot and the whipping of the free ends then makes it slip, often within seconds; neither does it alone. The bow based on the square (reef) knot held better than the granny version.

## Common mistakes

- **Overtightening the lock** until it bites into the ankle. Firm, not tourniquet.
- **Lacing the whole shoe tighter** to stop heel slip, which only squeezes the forefoot.
- **Laces too short** for a lock: it uses a little more lace than plain criss-cross.
- **Leaving long loops and ends**: the Berkeley study found the swinging ends are part of why knots fail.

For other fit problems, the [shoe problem fixer](https://soleoddity.me/) has steps for tight shoes and heel slip by material.

## Sources

All checked on 3 November 2026.

- Ian’s Shoelace Site (Ian Fieggen), [www.fieggen.com/shoelace](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/): [Lock lacing](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/locklacing.htm) (updated 10 August 2026), [Gap lacing](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/gaplacing.htm) (25 October 2026), [Straight bar lacing](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/straightbarlacing.htm) (26 September 2026), [Progressive lacing](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/progressivelacing.htm) (24 October 2026), [Knotted segment lacing](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knottedsegmentlacing.htm) (12 August 2026) and [Granny knots](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm) (9 August 2026).
- Nike: [Running shoe lacing techniques](https://www.nike.com/a/running-shoe-lacing-techniques) (Jen Deng, updated 21 May 2024).
- Daily-Diamond CA, Gregg CE, O’Reilly OM. [The roles of impact and inertia in the failure of a shoelace knot](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2016.0770). Proceedings of the Royal Society A 473(2200): 20160770 (2017). University of California, Berkeley: [Shoestring theory](https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2017/11/shoestring-theory/) (1 November 2017).
- Dr. Martens: [Break-in guide](https://www.drmartens.com/uk/en_gb/dms-world/product/break-in-guide).

## Questions

**How do you do heel lock lacing?**

Lace normally to the second-from-top eyelets. Take each end straight up the outside and in through the top eyelet on the same side, cross the ends, feed each under the small vertical section on the opposite side, then pull down and tie.

**Is a heel lock the same as a runner’s loop?**

The names overlap. Ian’s Shoelace Site lists heel lock, lace lock and runner’s tie as names for lock lacing, while Nike describes the runner’s loop and the heel lock as separate variations. Both use the top eyelets to lock the heel in.

**How should I lace shoes for wide feet?**

Skip the bottom pair of eyelets and start lacing from the second pair, as Nike suggests, keeping the lower crossings snug rather than tight. Ian Fieggen’s progressive lacing and knotted segment lacing are more refined versions of the same idea.

**What lacing helps a high instep?**

Gap lacing, also called window lacing: skip one crossover over the sore or high part of the foot by running the laces straight up the sides there, then criss-cross the rest.

**Why do my laces keep coming undone?**

Often because the bow is a granny knot, which sits crooked and slips. Reverse your starting knot so the bow sits straight across the shoe. Berkeley engineers found knots fail from foot impact combined with the whipping of the loose ends.