You (and I these days) may be playing a greater number of positional and/or recovery shots but I can assure you that however we hit it, it's one of only seven shot type possibilities e.g. Drive, Approach, Putt etc.
Chemical fine tuning etc. which I appreciate is rife in cycling, athletics and gymnastics etc. doesn't really affect me given that our software only measures performance specifics on the course. My roles in the planning and preparation phase involve the scheduling and composition of practise, game, personal and course management and mental coaching (and within that including one specific and crucial skill) but that's only for a fraction of our online users who have become personal clients. I've never come across situations in golf where the line gets blurred but I fully understand your point in other sports.
Parents however, your point nails it. They are the biggest handicap to all of us engaged in helping golfers improve. Specifically they know their son (or daughter, dads of girls got banned from caddying by the R & A!) better than we do but they don't work in golf, a sport where everyone has an opinion and many parents think they know best. The Leadbetter fall out with Lydia Ko was a high-profile public case but we face the same shit every week of our lives. Or I don't. Any more. I've worked out how to close them down and shut them up very efficiently although it took some trial and error and if they don't like it, see ya later, I don't care. The golfer often comes back themselves, sometimes when it's too late unfortunately.
My client who scratched this week and is driving home as we speak doesn't like living in the bubbles, neither on the PGA Tour nor European Tour. My words to him to conclude our first text chat this morning were: -
Valderrama a superb test and perfect prep for a US Open. Tough course, will blow away any cobwebs in your mental examination. Demanding greens for putting too, but the confident putters thrive on them. Fuck Birmingham but missing Spain would be a bad mistake in my opinion.
He became a multi millionaire in his rookie year. He doesn't need to play this week for the money and it's not a big purse anyway. It's more important for him to be happy and well prepared for the bigger events and a week off just now fits perfectly, for other reasons too. So he's not an example to fit your debate either really. Some have to play and take every opportunity they get, others feel pressured to play for reasons which tragically includes OPE - Other People's Expectations but always, without passion and desire, they're never gonna make it, in anything.