# Why do people waddle when they walk slowly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541 "2006-07-14T21:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/1 "2006-07-14T21:41:33Z")
Fairly self-explanatory, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/2 "2006-07-14T21:44:31Z")
You might have cause and effect here. People move slowly when they waddle. However, I am extremely fast walker and I can’t walk as slowly as some people. I have to start and stop and it is very uncomfortable. Maybe I should practice a waddle for those occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/3 "2006-07-14T21:45:32Z")
cause and effect mixed up that is. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/4 "2006-07-14T22:54:23Z")
When you raise up your right foot you have to shift your weight to the left to maintain a center of balance. Opposite is true when you raise your left foot. I think when your walking fast you have enough forward momentum that you dont have to worry about shifting the weight as you dont have enough time before your foot hits the ground to throw you off balance. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/5 "2006-07-15T03:02:13Z")
People walking slowly don’t swing their arms. Without swinging your arms you need to waddle to keep balanced. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/6 "2006-07-15T03:11:17Z")
Yep, what **Whammo** said. And if you slow down even more, you eventually get to the point that you fall over if you _don’t_ waddle. I have trouble walking slower than about 2.5 MPH without getting incredibly clumsy (long legs, one of which is kinda warped and croggled with a 45° knee angle). Hate slow crowds, plodding cattlefolks getting off the subway and M E A N D E R I N G down the platform and then up the **_S_T** _A_ **I** _R_\*\*S. ---
**Author:** ![malbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@malbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malbuff)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/7 "2013-06-11T13:27:31Z")
Ever wonder why “finishing schools” and such, back in the day, used to teach girls to walk with books balanced on their head? It was to teach, and ingrain as habit, the right way of walking. Look at your feet when you walk. They should be pointed straight ahead with each step or even slightly (slightly!) pronated. This promotes a steady rolling gait, a slight (slight!) straight-backed forward lean, and it keeps your hips in line. But if your feet are splayed wide, even slightly, you’re walking wrong-- you’re waddling. See, most of us are lazy, and without any coaching or training we default into the habit of settling slightly back on our hips, which allows our feet to spread wide as we walk, leading to a side-by-side motion-- the dreaded waddle. No wonder we’re walking too slow-- half our motion is wasted going sideways, for Pete’s sake! You can teach yourself the right way of walking. It’s not that hard but you have to keep at it. One way to do so is practice balancing something on your head, just like finishing school. If you stay straight, it won’t fall off. Another is simply to observe others as they walk, which will remind you that you know better. I was an athlete and distance runner in my younger days. Now I am past 55 and 20 pounds overweight, and walking is my exercise. Yet I still blow past people half my age who are in better shape, because I know how to walk and they don’t. It works, and your body will thank you for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-waddle-when-they-walk-slowly/364541/8 "2013-06-11T13:47:14Z")
If I could walk that way I wouldn’t need brains.