Background

A few years ago I was trying on new shoes at a local running store here in Cincinnati. I really liked a particular pair, but I just felt like my heel was slipping out. As a result, I was worried this would lead to future blisters on my heel. After mentioning it to the employee, he quickly worked some magic with the shoelaces and suddenly the heel slippage was gone! It was amazing that a simple extra knot could dramatically improve my shoe’s performance. The employee was kind enough afterwards to show me how to make the heel lock knot. In this article I will show you how you can optimize your shoe laces.

What is a Heel Lock Knot?

Have you ever noticed the 2 extra holes at the top of your laces before? Ever wondered what their purpose was to the shoe? It turns out that they are provided by most shoe manufacturers to support Heel Lock Knots. A special knot works by tightening the upper part of the shoe to create a snug, tight fit that limits movement of the heel. Foot movement inside of the shoe is bad as this leads to friction and irritation, which can cause nasty blisters. The best part about this knot though is that it doesn’t affect the fit in the rest of the shoe. Therefore you don’t have to crush your foot with excruciatingly tight laces anymore!

Heel Lock Knot Step-by-Step Instructions

To start, lace up your shoes with the normal crisscross pattern until you get to the final hole.

Start with the left shoelace and instead of looping through the other side of the shoe, loop through the hole on the same side of the shoe. This will create a loop (seen in the picture below). After that, pull through about halfway to make the loop a little smaller. Do not pull completely tight yet.

Once you have completed the left side loop, then follow the same steps with the right shoelace. You should now have a loop on each side of the shoe (see example below).

Finally, to finish the knot, crisscross each shoelace through the loop on the opposite side of the shoe. Then pull each shoelace tight to lock in the knot. The knot is now completed and ready for a normal tie to finish the lace up.

Conclusion

I hope that you will find this knot as useful as it has been for me. There are a couple things I have noticed about the heel lock knot. If you already have short shoelaces, the knot could cause problems, as adding the extra loop will shorten the amount of lace you have for actually tying the shoe. Also, due to the tighter knot around the top, the shoes are a little harder to initially loosen to take off the foot. This is not a big issue, but I definitely did notice the difference during the first few times taking the shoe off my foot.

Finally, it is important to know that the Heel Lock Knot will only help so much to lock your heel in place. However, if you are still experiencing heel slippage during runs with the knot, then I suggest looking for a new pair of shoes to try out. It is always worth it to invest in yourself and your shoes. They can make quite the difference. Check out my previous post on selecting the right running shoe to find the best fit. Happy Running!