Mastering the art of lacing football boots is essential for a secure and comfortable fit, ensuring optimal performance during the game. Manufacturers like adidas understand this, offering a list of dos and don'ts when it comes to lacing. However, this guide takes a different approach, providing step-by-step instructions for one of the most effective lacing techniques available.
In addition to the primary method, we explore various alternative lacing techniques to help you find the perfect fit for your playing style and specific football boots. For instance, strikers might prefer a side knot to create a clearer striking area, although personal comfort ultimately dictates the best choice.
No matter your position or lacing preference, our guide will prepare you for the game in no time. Just ensure your boots have laces, as this advice doesn't apply to laceless models for obvious reasons.
How to lace football boots
Step 1:
- Pass your shoelace through the two lower eyelets of your first boot, going from the outer side to the inner side. This will create a horizontal bar across the middle.
Top Tip: Ensure both ends of your shoelace are equal in length for a balanced and secure knot at the top.
Step 2:
- Take the inner shoelace and pass it through the second eyelet on the opposite side, moving from the outside to the inside. For instance, if you’re lacing your right boot, the inner lace should end up on the left side.
Step 3:
- Repeat the same process with the outer lace, threading it through the next eyelet up on the opposite side.
Top Tip: Keep your laces flat and smooth as you work your way up, correcting any twists to maintain a neat appearance.
Step 4:
- Continue this crisscross pattern until you reach the final row of eyelets. If your boot has a lace loop on the tongue, be sure to thread the shoelace through it to prevent the tongue from shifting during use.
Step 5:
- When you reach the final set of eyelets, decide whether to feed the lace ends from the outside in or from the inside out, based on your preference. Tie the two ends of the lace into a secure knot.
Step 6:
- Repeat steps one through five with your second boot.
Top Tip: Ensure your laces are consistently snug but not too tight to allow comfortable movement and support.
Now you're ready to go with perfectly laced boots!
What type of laces do you need?
A typical pair of football boots, such as the Nike Mercurial Vapor 16s, usually come with relatively thin, flat laces to ensure a cleaner, uninterrupted strike. Therefore, if you're looking to replace your laces, then we'd recommend sticking with flats around 4-6mm in width.
The colour choice will come down to your preference though. For example, these Fabmania cotton laces come in a wide variety of different colours, so should make for the perfect pick if you want to deviate from the traditional black or white colours.
In terms of length, we'd recommend picking up laces around 125cm. This will of course vary depending on your boots; however, this length should fit most boots without leaving too much excess.
Alternative ways to lace football boots
Although our step-by-step guide details one of the most common techniques, there are several alternative ways of lacing football boots to suit different styles and for different fits. We've summarised a few key techniques of note right here.
Runners loop
The Runners Loop is designed to eliminate as much movement inside your boots as possible.
The technique is mostly the same as the aforementioned method, with the main difference being that once you reach the second to last eyelets, rather than crossing, simply feed each end through the next eyelet up on the same side.
This should create a loop in which you can now cross each end over and feed through for a more secure lock-in.
Straight bars
Tying your shoelaces using straight bars isn't a particularly common method when it comes to football boots; however, it does produce a particularly clean look.
Start in exactly the same way as our first technique, but rather than working one row up at a time, the trick is to alternate eyelets.
For example, take the outside length and feed it through the third eyelet up on the inside, then thread it through the opposite eyelet over the top to create a bar across the tongue.
Do the same on the other side but through the second eyelet instead, then repeat this process to the top. For more information on this, check out our guide to lacing Converse and Jordan 1s right here.
Side knot
This technique is almost identical to the first method we mentioned; however, the difference here is you tie the knot slightly to the outside of your boots instead of the middle.
The benefit of doing this is to leave the centre and inside of your foot clear for a cleaner strike. To finish this technique off, simply tuck the remaining lengths of your shoelace into your boot for a tidier look.