My DS8 can’t run

[Doggodogington]

So how has he got to this age before I realised he can’t run/jog?
In lock down we’ve all put a bit of padding on and so we have started the couch to 5k programme. We do it mostly out doors but sometimes on a treadmill when it’s rainy.
What I have noticed is that my DS8 nearly 9 doesn’t know how to run properly and I don’t know how to advise him. His feet barely leave the floor so sometimes he trips or scuffs his feet, his arms don’t go in time with his legs and quite often flail around instead of him bending them at the elbow. When he’s on the treadmill he often bumps into the side.
He’s never been sporty, he did rugby for a while but mainly he pootled around the pitch looking at his boots. If I let him he’d be sat on the settee all day so I’m thinking it’s part laziness on his behalf. I just assumed running (at least the posture part) comes naturally, if not the fitness part. He doesn’t moan about it as he knows it’s good to be healthy but if I didn’t encourage him he’d be quite happy to do no exercise at all. Has anyone noticed this type of uncoordination in a child? My DD just gets it and runs better then me.

@Clymene poor choice of words I admit, but it kinda sums up how I feel about the therapist who diagnosed him at 3 with dyspraxia.

I agree with others about the possibility of dyspraxia, one of my dd's friends has it.

Is he hypermobile?

One of my ds is 6 and is like this, it's kind of like he hasn't got a proper gait, he doesn't leave the ground really. I built them an obstacle course in the garden and only when I played it back in slow motion did I see just how awkward his movements are. He tried to jump over something (low) but it was more like he sideways strode over. He can do fantastic roll overs though and a headstand so I think he's just a bad runner!

It sounds like dyspraxia to me ( both my children have dyspraxia,though it affects them very differently)
D1ngledanglers,I am amazed that anyone would diagnose a 3 year old,I strongly suspected DC 1 had dyspraxia by 6-7, but we had no diagnosis til later,there was reluctance to diagnose because of the range of development in young NT children.

I see pp has suggested hyper mobility, which I was wondering about too.

This running style is literally identical to my son, also 8. I first noticed it at his first sports day, age 4. We call it ‘the pond skater’.

I have tried to get him to run differently- told
Him to get his knees higher etc and he can do it but he says it feels weird???

He can ride a bike and swim ok. We leave him to it now. We can’t all be good at everything.

I would try and get in touch with his teacher before the end of term and ask them if they have noticed anything.

He does sound dyspraxic but I find running soul-destroying as an adult, especially on a treadmill - and I do tons of other exercise and am very fit/coordinated! Must be miserable for an 8yo. Take him outside and try some games that incorporate running - tag, races, 40-40, football...

My DD really couldn't run at 8 either. She couldn't jump until 7, let alone hop of skip. It was Cross Country that sorted her out, distance running taught by a distance runner, on grass not a treadmill or tarmac.
She still can't sprint for toffee, but when she runs along a field, she looks like she's in Chariots of Fire