Sam: when you use the shoulder turn and inadvertently get it too flat..what kind of shot does it produce..a hook?I too rotate the shoulders to start the backswing..as well as rotating them all the way to the top..and i too get a little flat sometimes resulting in a hook.When i can keep it just above the plane line though it gets "spanked" straight and long down the middle.I was working on trying to get it a little more upright this evening when i got home from work.Have you tried the suggestion of more spine angle yet?Just wondering if it might work.Seems to me if i can start it all STRAIGHT BACK from the ball for a couple or 3 inches instead of letting the clubhead start curving in immediately from the ball(like it wants to from the shoulder turn)..its just upright enough to murder it straight down the middle.But it aint easy.