gross motor skills delay or just not a sporty child?

[quickdrawmcgraw]

My ds is 5.7 and for a while I've been worried that he seems both uncoordinated and pretty weak. His hand eye coordination is bad. He will drop almost any ball that's thrown to him and mostly miss them completely. He can't kick very well either. More like a 3 year old I would think.
I see so many other small boys his age running about playing football and tennis or whatever and especially then I think that ds is way behind. The thing is, he doesn't seem to enjoy outdoor sports much so would do very little of it. Is practicing throwing, kicking, catching etc something i should be doing with him for him to become better (even if he doesn't want to) or is he just that sort of kid? One that will never be particularly sporty or coordinated.

He's only 5 - theres plenty of time to learn physical skills - don't "force" him if he doesn't like/want to play. Some kids just aren't sporty - but maybe see if he would enjoy swimming, trampolining, etc

yes he does love swimming. He learnt to swim just before his 4th birthday. Thing is although he can swim all 3 strokes he's such a messy swimmer. He can't seem to kick his legs fast enough to stop them dropping and his arms are bendy and so sometimes don't come out of the water in front crawl. He loves it though so I'm not TOO worried about that.
Is it unusual that he can't touch his toes with his legs straight?

My son was Malcoordination Central up to about 6. Continually injured. Didn't seem to be able to run very easily. Disliked team sports intensely.

He's now 14.5, loves judo, climbing (anything), and is training for Ten Tors.

Keep introducing him to new activities until you find something he enjoys. It really doesn't have to be a team sport- there are loads of alternatives.

Sorry I meant to say he's not too bad a climbing trees and he learnt to ride a bike at age 3 so his balance must be ok. He's slow and nervous of the climbing apparatus in the park. Teacher hasn't said anything about his movement but maybe I should talk to her about it.
He's very bookish. Would definitely prefer to be indoors on the computer or reading than outside.

Also as far I can remember he couldn't catch a ball until he was about 8 or 9. That did worry me so we spent quite a lot of time throwing glow in the dark balls to him in dark (it is supposed to help).

Also is his fine motor skills are poor (very common in young boys), maybe he would enjoy hot beads or Knex to practise them.

That's given me some heart duchesse.

I just get worried when I compare him to others his age.

You would never tell that my son's motor were once so poor- he really came on physically and emotionally when he started going to a school where they had a lot of active playtime. I wish he'd been able to go there sooner than 10 though.

He could just be a non sporty child but he's VERY similar to my DS, who has hypermobility and this affects his gross and fine motor skills - he's just the same, can't catch, kick, balance on apparatus, etc etc....hypermobility is excess movement in the muscles; basically the body has to work extra hard to control the muscles. Luckily for my ds he has it mildly and may well grow out of his difficulties but i know it can be an on-going problem if you have it more severely

If the teachers have never picked up on it maybe he doesn't 'have' anything but it may be worth asking her if he's really delayed compared to the class as a whole, and if she says yes then it may be worth asking the GP if he thinks it's worth referring to a Paed - they should be able to rule it out or in during an initial appt - they did with ds anyway

Of course it could simply be lack of interest or aptitude, not everyone is a physical person

I'm so glad I posted because it's definitely made me feel less anxious but I think I will encourage him to play a few more catching and throwing games with me and the hot beads and Knex would also be a good idea.
HonoriaGlossop I don't think he has hypermobility. I would describe him and being very lathargic. He's only started dressing himself in the past few months partly due to laziness but partly due to lack of flexibility. Actually that's a word that describes him best. He's very unflexible.
I will also have a word with his teacher to see if she's noticed any difference between him and others in P.E.
Yes cat64, he was young to ride a bike! (3.6) that surprised me.

Is his eyesight equally good on both eyes? This has always been a problem for me, difficult to judge distance.

Anyway, ball sports are only a small part of all the activities he can enjoy.

DH was like this as a child - he had an undiagnosed eye disorder which if it had been caught early would have meant he would be able to catch balls. Go to a very good optician. My DH can't see in 3D and so catching balls impossible it really did impact him socialising with other boys. He only got diagnosed when I marched him off to the opticians at the age of 35 - why his mother never did it was beyond me, although I don't think she wanted a sporty child.