xyrandomyx
Contributor
I agree with diverrex, and will go as far as to say that in a normal buddy situation, it is very hard to do anything worse than having one of the divers above and behind the other. I have had a couple of regular buddies who had that tendency, and I had to tell them what a pain in the neck they were being. Literally. While they were keeping track of me effortlessly, I had to keep twisting my neck around to see them. And it was not a matter of my being ahead and below them. In each case, I kept trying to adjust, and they kept adjusting to my adjustment. One of them was just this weekend. I told them that if I had kept trying to get us in a position where I could see him by slowing down and ascending, it would not be long before we were swimming backward on the surface. In good buddy diving, both partners can see each other with ease.
My first dive buddy (who has now ditched me because he doesn't like cold water) used to do this. Until I told him I'd send him my physio bills when my neck finally gave in. On the upside, it taught me to not do this to anyone else, since I've had first-hand experience of how much of a pain it is.
I try as far as possible to dive side-by-side with my buddy (and ask new/ insta-buddies to do this before dives, so we're clear). The diver leading might be slightly in front, but not so much that a slight tilt of the head won't put the diver following in sight. If I'm leading and about to make a sharp turn, I try to signal by pointing before I do. I find it helps with not ending up swimming into each other.