I kept adding flour until my bread dough stopped sticking, and the loaf was dense. What should I check next?

The recipe said "soft dough," but mine was attached to my fingers, the bowl and apparently my sleeve. My brother passed me the flour bag. "Keep adding it until you can handle it."

I did. The baked loaf was heavy and hard to slice. He thinks I didn't knead enough; I suspect the extra flour, but I didn't record how much I added. I also measured the original flour by dipping a cup into the bag. The recipe offered gram measurements, which I ignored because I already had the cups out.

[King Arthur Baking's measuring guide](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/baking-skills/how-to-measure-flour) recommends weighing flour for consistency and gives a fluff-and-fill method when using cups. That makes measuring one thing worth controlling; it doesn't tell me which of my changes caused this loaf.

For a second attempt, would you borrow a scale and follow the quantities, or practise handling the dough first? I'd like to learn what the recipe means by soft before producing another bread-shaped paperweight.