I haven't read all replies, so don't know if anyone mentioned this yet...but:

The quality of the roads you have to practice on can make a difference. My biggest local descent is down a mountain, and the road often has gravel patches, and there are large areas of pavement patches. There also tend to be a lot of tourists looking at the view more than the road.

Earlier this summer I went to to a ride with wonderful descents. Barely any traffic. Smooth pavement. Zero gravel. It was so much easier to really feel and flow with the curves...to integrate what I know I'm supposed to do on descents with what I'm feeling on the descents.

I felt some skills sort of click in that I had been trying to practice at home, but was not really able to truly focus on and get into my body, if that makes sense.