Look at your shoes. Do your shoelaces come untied periodically? Are your bows straight across the top of the shoe as they should be — like the shoe on the right — or do they end up aimed down the length of your shoe — like the shoe on the left? I recently ran across a three-minute video on Netflix from TED about how to tie your shoe. Intrigued, I figured it was worth three minutes. In the short video, Terry Moore explains how you likely have been tying your shoe wrong all these years.
While Moore explains the problem quite well, it took me several viewings to figure out how I should adapt my shoe-tying style. For me, it was a matter of looping the opposite direction around my finger instead of my thumb. If you are still not quite seeing it, here is another video that explains a little more how you might make the adjustment to tying the superior reef knot instead of that granny knot your parents taught you. [2016 Update: A previously posted video from from Runner’s World is no longer available.]
In defense of your parents, the granny knot probably is easier for little kid fingers. But I am upset about all those years I wasted having to retie my shoes after they came undone. Now, if you tie your shoes correctly, you can use that extra time for for your favorite activities, including reading Chimesfreedom.
How do you tie your shoes? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
That’s how I’ve been tying them the whole time. . . it’s the same way you tie a bow on a present so that it looks nice. I just didn’t know it was called a “reef knot”. I didn’t know that it unties less easily or anything though.
I’ve seen many problems caused by shoelaces in the gym — primarily, accidents. What gives with extra long laces? Thought provoking tid bit. Love the blog. Thanks.