It's a fine line... Definitely easy to get information overload to a point where you're just twisting yourself in knots. I admire how bubba Watson has purportedly never taken a formal lesson, but he's also an exceptional talent. If you don't fully understand the mechanics it can be very valuable to have someone who does say "hey quit moving your head around so much" or w/e and like bam game changer that just fixed a bunch of your issues
Golf is very weird. Its really the only sport I've tried where I really really struggled. I'm def shitty at other sports, but I could always at least be average. When I first just started going out there, I obviously sucked ass, but started getting a bit better on my own just by playing. Then I took some lessons and learned some things and got a bit better. Then, out of rough ridin' nowhere, I couldn't even hit the ball 30 feet. Just over and over I would be slicing, chunking, etc. It just happened and it lasted for like a month or more. That is the hardest part mentally for me. I feel like I'm doing the same thing I did before, but the results are crap and I have no idea why. As I said above, I hope i'm a bit past that as I've kind of figured out that if the ball does this, I probably did that and can adjust a bit. Learning to play golf past 40 is not recommended. I'm making my kids play so they at least learn the basics early.
I wish I would of learned to play as a kid but my dad never played so I ended up taking a 1 credit hr golf class at ole ksu and had a buddy who worked at Colbert hills who would let us play the par 3 for free. That class was the only instruction I've ever had and my grip is pretty messed up now from figuring out what works for me. Ended up shooting an 88 at Hodge Park in Nkc last weekend so I'm happy with that.
About 4 years ago I went through a stretch like you were talking about where I just couldn't hit a ball, literally went home after losing 10+ balls on 7 holes on a 9 hole round after work.
Stopped playing for about a month and I was back to normal.