Commitment to improvement. Not effort, plenty of that at every golf shop and range. Failure to establish and commit to a plan of improvement with the help of an instructor. There is very little honest self-evaluation in the game of golf. I have a friend who can hit a five iron 200 yards but cannot get out of a bunker to save his life or hit a soft pitch shot. Yet he never gets fitted for wedges properly or takes a short game lesson.
dodger,
As that famous philosopher, Mr. Stanley Laurel, so aptly stated, "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead."
I'll bet no amount of coaxing will get the guy to take a look at that first dvd in Alignment Golf. I'll also bet when you talk to him about educating his hands he just gives that vacant look.