Actually 23rdman, I have exaggerated things a little. I had a video lesson some months back which showed my swing plane was all wrong, too much casting etc... and not enough hip rotation. After some weeks of utter uselessness, I seem to have found a way of reconciling my abilities and swing with what the pro wanted me to do.

Now on the downswing, instead of the first movement being a 'swing' of the arms and shoulders, I try to make this first movement to be a 'drop' with the hands. This doesn't probably make much sense to anyone but me, but its what I'm working on at the moment and seems to be going OK. (I also bear in mind something you said a while about hitting the side of the ball, and not the back.)

I have also started chipping with a 5-wood in iffy lies, and this is working great as well.