Post stroke spatiotemporal gait asymmetries.

This could be translated into your non-stroke patients gait. Making changes in their gait must be specific, accurate (what they need, not changes that you are seeing which you do not like), and consciously engrained through repetition. As with most things, awareness is the first step toward change. And making changes based on what you see is just asking them to create a new pattern on what was likely their compensation, not their problem. Never change what you see in someones gait without a complete physical examination first, what you see is how they are moving with their presenting problem(s).

“Asymmetry magnitudes need to exceed usual overground levels to reach conscious awareness. Therefore, it is proposed that the spatiotemporal asymmetry that is specific to each participant may need to be augmented beyond what he or she usually walks with in order to promote awareness of asymmetric gait patterns for long-term correction and learning.”
“Following stroke, spatiotemporal gait asymmetries persist into the chronic phases, despite the neuromuscular capacity to produce symmetric walking patterns. This persistence of gait asymmetry may be due to deficits in perception, as the newly established asymmetric gait pattern is perceived as normal.”

http://ptjournal.apta.org/…/2015/04/30/ptj.20140482.abstract