I had no choice but to learn to fly alone as there was no club and no other RC flyers in the area. I could do this safely because the flying site was an old mine tailings in the middle of the bush. This is like a salt flats. At the time there was no flight line rule and we learned to fly by flying all over. Once the pit area was established for the evening, for the sake of safety, we would only need to avoid flying over the pits. The parking lot was 500 feet away and sheltered by a line of trees. Three of us learned to fly this way but we sure got a surprise when we went to our first fun fly. That was when we learned about a flite line and coping with the plane flying toward you. We had a lot of difficulty and soon realized that we had some bad habits to break. So I agree with rctrax that it's best to learn the right way the first time. However, in the absence of an instructor, it's all too easy to get confused when in a moment of panic,, was that correct to the low wing? or a high wing?

The over the shoulder tactic was suggested by a well known modeler of the time (30 years ago) but I don't recall the name. All three of us had trouble unlearning our bad habits. Only after we adopted the over the shoulder technique to help us in panic situations, (particularly when landing when your margin for error is very small) did we make progress. We've taught a great many modelers in our club over the thirty years and, generally, folks who learn over the shoulder, gradually loose their need for it as they practice and their proficiency increases.

That's not to say that it can't be used as a crutch and we always emphasize that that's what it is and should be treated as such. Best to rely on over the shoulder and help prevent disasters particularly when learning alone and at unregulated fields. At least you get to go home in one piece.