Why do flutter kicks have to be narrow?

Right, and I also think a wide kick can be indicative of other stroke problems. For example, if you turn your head too much to breathe a lot of times your legs will naturally scissor to counterbalance the upper body rotation. Yes, I had someone videotape my swimming, and my legs do "scissor" when I rotate to breathe. My legs don't scissor when I roll to my non-breathing side. But I wonder if it is really caused by turning my head too much. My video shows that I turn my head just so much as to see the lane rope, with one goggle in the water. I've been thinking about the problem, and I think the scissoring happens because I don't rotate my lower body enough. If I try to rotate the upper body while keeping the lower body flat, the legs naturally spread apart to counterbalance - even when I do this exercise on dry land. Would my own analysis of my problem be a fair statement? The drill that Chlorini mentions sounds like a good solution, then.

Right, and I also think a wide kick can be indicative of other stroke problems. For example, if you turn your head too much to breathe a lot of times your legs will naturally scissor to counterbalance the upper body rotation. Yes, I had someone videotape my swimming, and my legs do "scissor" when I rotate to breathe. My legs don't scissor when I roll to my non-breathing side. But I wonder if it is really caused by turning my head too much. My video shows that I turn my head just so much as to see the lane rope, with one goggle in the water. I've been thinking about the problem, and I think the scissoring happens because I don't rotate my lower body enough. If I try to rotate the upper body while keeping the lower body flat, the legs naturally spread apart to counterbalance - even when I do this exercise on dry land. Would my own analysis of my problem be a fair statement? The drill that Chlorini mentions sounds like a good solution, then.