I thought the shoelaces would be stretchy so that there'd be some flexibility with how tight they'd be with the Velcro closure. They are not stretchy. So either the Velcro is in just the right place, or it's not. In my son's case it's not.  I should mention that he wears leg braces which make finding the right shoes difficult. These shoes may work great for most people. I like the way they look. The Velcro closure is not very obvious, especially with long pants. They look like tie-up shoes.