I never have really given any thought to lacing up my shoes any differently than the way my mother taught me about 50 years ago! But... 43,200 ways to tie your shoes?!
Before you tie 'em, you have to lace 'em — and you can choose from among 43,200 perfectly legitimate ways to do it. A smart stringing strategy can actually improve your game, sportswise and otherwise, so Wired turned to Professor Shoelace (aka Ian Fieggen, an Australian programmer with a lace permutation fetish) for a rundown of the ins and outs. Here are four techniques:
1) Runner's stitch
Are your dogs yapping after a jog? This method alleviates pressure points inside the sneaker to give your pups some breathing room. Start with a horizontal lace across the bottom eyelets. Go straight up and emerge from the second set, cross over to the third, and go up to the fourth. Repeat.
2) Hacky weave
Popular in footbag circles, this method opens up the front of the shoe so there's more room to "catch" a hacky sack. Lace across the third eyelets, then dive into the second and emerge from the first. Now run the laces up, into the fourth eyelets. From there, crisscross to the top.
3) Skater special
We're talking ice skating, not skateboarding. To keep the instep tighter than the upper half of the boot, lace normally to the ankle at the desired pressure, then tie a square knot (right over left, left over right) and continue crisscrossing up the calf.
4) Two-tone tie
This one's pure fashion statement. You'll need two laces of different colors. String the first one across the bottom eyelets: Tuck the left end into the shoe; thread the right side through the second eyelet, then across to the opposite side, and repeat to the top. Now take the second lace and weave it through the first from bottom to top and back down. Weave until you run out of room. Then stuff the loose ends into comfortable spots inside the shoe. Kick it with your posse.
[From How to: Lace Your Shoes ]
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