I don't think it's that strange. Ultimately you have to play in order to read ahead in the game. People who think they can sit down and learn to read ahead will struggle. But if you start actually playing, a lot of the basic reading ahead will become second nature and then it's on to harder/deeper reading. The same is true of chess. Someone given the rules and a set can't hope to get it in any meaningful way though it is theoretically possible. For Go, if you can find people better than you to play against and keep it up for a year you'll look back and realize that even your initial worries were just a misunderstanding. DGS is not a good place to start. You need to play in volume. Bulk practice.