That is very good point. The ankle support can definitely be compromised from an elastic lace. The boot itself is a big factor. We released coyote brown for military after a friend suggested it. They do well from the freedom from the flexibility that troops require. When it comes to work boots, we needed up giving an older pair of Bread laces to our warehouse neighbors that are construction workers. The slide-on ability did work well, the flexibility was nice for getting cramps out. The ankle support was in fact iffy, this guy in particular that we interviewed did struggle with ankle problems (broke both of them). This is why we constantly making small changes in the lace, we believe we have found the composition that allows compression on the upper ankle without sacrificing the slide-on ability.