There are times in life when we get an explanation to something that we didn't really know we didn't know. Like when I was talking to the Boot Salesman at REI, he told me something that made total sense, and explains why boots are made they way they are.
If you look at most hiking boots, there are laces that go over the top of the foot, and laces that go up the ankle, however the eyelet/hoot where it turns is almost always farther down and back than all the other eyelets. That is because, as explained by the REI Boot Salesman, you want the boot to be loose over your toes and at your ankles, but you want it to be tight between your heel and top of foot. This is shown by the green line in the picture of the boot.
As shown in the red lines, if the boot is too tight across the ball of your foot, your foot can't move and it's much more difficult to hike. If you boot is tight across your ankle, you lose flexibility in your ankle, making it harder to walk. Both of the above lead to blisters.
Taking this a little further, this is why shoes are laced at the ankle, to fasten your shoe to your foot yet still allowing flexibility.
(Full Disclosure: These aren't my boots. I borrowed this picture of Merril Phaser Peak hiking boots from the REI.com website. I'm sure I'm breaking some type of copyright law.)
