The character being in the exact middle of the screen, as well as the camera pivoting around the character is probably the primary problem.
When I wanted to look somewhere, I guess i just intuitively try to center it on my screen, and the character always ended up in the way.
I also had trouble telling distances when I was in the air, I think it was because the camera is quite far behind the character, so its harder to tell how much further is the object than your character.