Cool tip for quick lace boots

In my pole class today I was struggling to lace up my thigh high boots. They do have the side zipper, but every time I took the boots off, the laces popped out of the quick lace hooks. My instructor told me to lace my boots up (without my legs in them) and hammer the hooks closed. That sounded like a great plan. I couldn't find a hammer, but I came up with something even better. I put the boots on, and lacing each hook one at a time, I pinched the hook closed with a pair of pliers. By doing it in this manner, I was able to make sure that they shaped nicely around my legs. I have one warning if you try this--Make sure you've laced in the correct pattern that you want. It's hard to fix the mistake after you've closed the hook.