So recently I bought a pair of lace-up boxing gloves (Top Boxer Win1 gloves). I do some training at the gym along with occasional sparring but I also do some training at home and I began wondering how I could use the gloves when training alone without anyone there to tie them for me.
I found two ways to use my lace-up gloves when training alone: 1) Elastic shoe laces. 2) Lace converter systems like Lace N’ loop.
I am going to share my pros and cons for each system
Benefits of Lace-up Gloves VS Velcro Gloves
So, like me, you decided to buy some lace-up boxing gloves. There are a lot of benefits for using lace-up gloves. The laces provide a custom fit in the hand and wrist area and traditionally provide more wrist support than their Velcro counterparts. They usually have padding around the wrist which tends to be a little more comfortable and streamlined. You don’t have to worry about the Velcro scratching a sparring partner. Lace-up gloves are a classic that have stood the test of time. I would say that every pro I know has at least 1 pair of lace-up gloves for sparring days. Last but not least, in my opinion, they look better.
The major cons of the lace-up method are they can be difficult to put on and take off while training alone. Even if you are training with someone who can tie your laces, they can be more time consuming to put on and take off which can be difficult if you will be doing intervals or changing disciplines like transitioning to grappling.
I hope that the next 2 options help to eliminate most of the cons of using lace-up gloves and allow you to use the gloves while training alone.
Elastic Shoe Lace Method Pros and Cons
For this method you replace the laces currently in your gloves and replace them with elastic shoe laces. I used 45in flat elastic laces (to make them look like normal laces as much as possible). At 45 inches they appeared too short at first but due to the give of the laces they worked pretty well. However, if I were to buy another set of elastic laces I would probably buy the largest size and just wrap around my gloves a few more times. Once the elastic laces are in you just tie them like normal lace-up gloves (without your hands inside the glove for now). Once they are wrapped around and tied the give in the laces should allow you to slide your hand in the glove but still stay on while training.
Pro tip: Cinch the laces tighter than you think before tying your knot. The most elastic laces will stretch further than you think. This will allow you to still get your hands inside your glove by yourself but still stay tight enough to get some wrist protection and have your gloves maintain a good position while training.
Pro’s: 1) Ease of use: You tie them once and can leave them tied for as long as you want. 2) In my opinion they look better than the lace converter systems out there. 3) Cheaper option than most of the lace converter systems out there. 4) Could be used for sparring much like traditional laces. 5) Can be taken on and off almost as quickly as traditional Velcro gloves which is good if you will be transitioning from striking to grappling etc.
Cons: 1) Not as much wrist support (but could be a pro if you are doing MMA or Muay Thai where you might be doing some clinching and the extra wrist mobility is needed). 2) The knot can come untied more easily than traditional laces (can be fixed with athletic tape however) 3) If you wanted to convert back to a non-elastic lace for whatever reason it would be fairly time consuming within a training session to remove elastic laces and replace with traditional laces.
Lace N’ Loop Method Pros and Cons
For the Lace N’ Loop option you keep your traditional laces in your glove. The Lace N Loop is a nylon band with some Velcro with an eyelet on one end. To put these on you take your laces and put a knot through the eyelet and then wrap the band and your laces around the glove as tight as desired and then secure like a normal Velcro glove.
Pro’s: 1) Easy to install and therefore easy to switch back and forth between traditional method and lace N’ Loop method. 2) A little bit more wrist support in my opinion vs elastic laces (however, not as good as traditional lace up method). 3) A little bit more convenient to adjust tension in my opinion.
Cons: 1) A little more bulky than elastic laces. 2) Not ideal for sparring due to being a little more bulky and possible increased risk for scratching a sparring partner (Due to the strap). 3) More costly compared to elastic laces options (however, $20 seems to be pretty reasonable in my opinion). 4) If you are transitioning from grappling and striking and vice a versa it might be the slower option compared to Velcro gloves or the elastic laces option. 5) Can be a little difficult to grab the loop to pull depending on how stiff your gloves are.
Pro Tip: There are other companies that have created products that are trying to solve the same problem. For example, Title boxing has a hook and loop glove converter. However, in my opinion, Lace N’ Loop had to most appealing and product because of the ease of transitioning from the product back to a traditional lace glove compared to Title’s version.
Conclusion
I think elastic laces or a lace converter system both are good options if you are looking to use your lace-up boxing gloves when training alone. If I had to pick which option I will use most frequently I would say the Lace N’ Loop system just because of the flexibility to go back and forth between traditional lace-up and Velcro in the same training session. I still like using the traditional laces while sparring for the extra wrist support.