I haven't had this exact problem but I've had ones I would consider similar... What helped me is to try to visualize and expect what's supposed to happen -- micromanage the situation so to speak. For example if you're trying to walk, expect the ground to move beneath you and feel the friction and think about how it feels when you walk in waking life. Be confident about it (think "this will happen"). Maybe pay attention to how walking feels to your feet while you're awake, and try to mimic that feeling in the dream. Also you could try looking at a reference point (house, car, road, tree, etc) and visualize/expect yourself getting closer to it every step you take. It might be difficult at first but after a few times your brain should make the desired changes and it will come naturally after that, or at least much easier.

I was having a non-lucid dream once where I was running and everything seemed to be working properly but I wasn't getting any closer to anything (it wasn't a friction issue like you mentioned). It caused me to become lucid and I used the reference point method to fix the problem.

Best of luck