......................... if my game is tight and I'm not spam approaching.
Yep! - I'm also not keen to go out 'blanket-bombing'.
Haven't done anything like that for decades.
As to the original thread question.....
I don't go out with the intention to 'approach' - Just go about my own daily business, and if I see a woman I'm attracted to, I'll look to see if I get any eye contact. Similarly while out socialising - I'll look for positive eye contact before I'll try to talk to someone new.
If she looks reasonably open, if I get a smile, a coy look... something positive... then I'll pass some innocuous comment - Anything... weather, current surroundings, whatever.
For example:- Woman I'm seeing now, I first saw after parking my car in town - she was headed for the ticket machine, I got some coy, submissive looking eye contact and made a comment about the parking situation at the time - and went from there...
If there seems to be some spark, THEN I'll try to carry on the conversation and only push for contact info if things go positively.
At what point would that count as an 'approach' ?
The eye contact? - the first comment? - carrying on the convo? - or trying for contact info?
If I was pushed to put numbers on it....
More than half I won't get eye contact.
If I get eye contact... maybe half of those will seem positive - and around 1 in 3 will go beyond the first comment - Maybe 1 out of 5 or more will end up with enough of a conversation to gauge whether she's single and/or open to asking for her number/etc.
And from that point, usually more than half will give some kind of contact info...
By the time I get a phone number or FB linkup, probably 1 in 3 go as far as a date - and once I get them on a date, I'm usually good to go.
I know these numbers seem very low compared to the first post estimation of 1 from hundreds... But as I've explained, I don't just randomly approach every woman I see - I look for IOIs, and only push forward if I'm reasonably confident things will go well.
Otherwise, I won't waste my time or hers, and will just move on....