Very true. If you haven't done the hard yards you don't know what advice to listen to and what to throw away. There is as much junk knowlege out there as there is good stuff. Experience will give you a gut feel for what is good. From what I have read you are taking the first step to being a better punter. There are many more steps ahead and if you apply yourself to it you will make a profit each year. I find most people go through the following stages:

1. Novice punter . Just backs favs, doesn't do any form study. Might follow tips or whats on the board at the TAB.
2. Beginner punter - Learns about form and trys to find systems. Moves from one system to another but never really gets anywhere.
3. Intermidiate punter - Almost breaking even or pushing a small profit and these guys usually look to staking plans to get that extra profit. The biges tproblem here is bank and bet size and not understanding money management properly. They may be using bought tips or ratings.
4. Advanced punter - Consistently making a profit but still has the occsional bad period due to not understading and monitoring their edge. They usually understand money management and know how/when to bet.
5. Evolved punter - Understands money management and risk management (very different to money management). Analyses their results using advanced maths to ensure they constantly have an edge. Consistenly making a profit.

I reckon there are 75% novice punters, 25 % beginner punters and about 5% intermidiate punters. There are then 4% in the advanced punter and 1% in the evolved punter categories.