Just curious for those of you who've started scales or been playing scales for several months, do you find that your fingers eventually start moving more efficiently up and down the frets or do you find that you need separate exercises to accomplish that?

I'm talking about how one's fingers tend to come too far up off the fret board when you're going through the progression. While I have gotten more efficient over the last several months, I notice the difference between my finger movement and more experienced guitarists is still significant. Trying to determine the best way to train my fingers to barely come off in order to move to the next string.

Comments/suggestions appreciated.