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I have to completely disagree. Believe it or not, I always did extremely well with women, and my secret was just a complete lack of shyness. Well that and a whole lot of directness. I never once used a line, but if I approached a woman, it was always with the intent of letting her know that she had caught my eye, that I thought she was hot, and most importantly that I wanted her to know that I was interested. Worked like a charm.

I've passed this wisdom on to Melas jr., and so far his phone rings off the hook.

Melas, my experience was EXACTLY the opposite of yours. Now, keep in mind, I've been told I'm above average in the looks department, (not Keith Urban handsome, just better than average - so my wife says). But, although I was a musician and had a wild and crazy stage persona, I had two very serious problems: I suffered from social paralysis around women (one to one), and I had no "spidey sense". I couldn't sense that a woman was interested in me, couldn't recognize flirting till months or YEARS after the fact in retrospect. (Those moments make you want to go, "Just Damn").

Anyway, using this as a backdrop, I was introduced to my (now) wife in 1985 as a semi-joke by my best friend and her best friend (who happened to be dating at the time). We were exact opposites. She had, shall we say, experienced the 70's and early 80's fully. She was 4 years older than me, a jaded, emotional wreck. She had sworn off men and went along on the date to shut her friend up.

Here's the kicker: she was intrigued by my shyness. After having been used and abused by men for so long, my behavior toward her was unexpected. We dated some more. After 3 or 4 dates, I hadn't even kissed her, much less anything else. At that point, looking back, she was hooked. She started calling me more and more. Of course, I got comfortable and opened up, and we became best friends.

The rest, as they say, is history. Kind of like Jenny and Forrest in "Forrest Gump" (except she wasn't a drug addict and I wasn't a virtuous idiot - but tone it down a bit and you get the idea).

My point is - there is no one size fits all. Perhaps young, inexperienced women will be attracted to a man full of confidence. Then there are those who have been burned by self-assured jerks and find a shy man intriguing.

One size definitely does not fit all. (Now I've done it, given the double-entendres flying around this thread).