I was not thinning the base much and my preforms where more wedge shaped than having a convex contour for the flute to travel over.
When taking the flakes on each side, to create the nipple, I was getting above center line causing the angle to be steep and short, which leaves more mass in the areas where the flute initiates and spreads out.
I was making the platforms too wide also which required a lot of force to get them to release.
A lot of force on a wedge shaped preform was causing the flutes to dive out the back side, The short set up flakes where causing the bulb to be more pronounced and deeper which allowed the ears to just collapse and snap off.