Stop dragging the load with the boom. You're fighting yourself and burning the clutch.
I watched a guy on a job site in Tucson spend 20 minutes trying to inch a steel beam into place with the boom instead of just booming down and using the swing. He was jerking the controls, the load was swinging, and the whole time the answer was right there. That's backwards. You use the boom to get the load in the air, then you swing it over and boom down. Trying to pull a load sideways with the boom puts side stress on the cylinder and your clutch pack eats it all day. Run the boom up and down for height, swing for position, and let the load settle before you make your move. Has anyone else seen guys fighting a load sideways with the boom when a simple swing would've done it?
Are you sure the boom is always the wrong call for sideways movement? On a lot of the older truck cranes I ran, the swing brake was so touchy that easing a beam a few inches with the boom felt smoother than fighting the swing. I get what you're saying about side stress and the clutch pack taking a beating, that part is real. But sometimes the guy in Tucson was jerking the controls because the swing was the thing acting up, not because he didn't know better. You still have to watch the load and let it settle either way. So I mostly agree, but I don't think it's as black and white as boom is only for up and down.