It really doesn't work against hyperaggressive players, who will easily punish you for meek play and your tendency to avoid volatility at times because good hyperaggressive players have great reading ability.  This was sort of proven as Dwan owned Phillips and Negreanu for the mistakes he made on last season of HSP.  Your read also isn't tested very much because it makes for spots on the flop and turn where you can "afford to call" when you're behind, only to realize that that ends up screwing you over when you turn a decent draw  or river a decent hand against the nuts and you end up losing a lot more than you would have if you simply had room to fold.  Let's not forget that the fish have gotten at least somewhat smarter, and so it's easier to put your hand face-up with more aggressive plays when you've been playing small-ball all this time.  With that said, I don't think it's a very good strategy anymore because the nature of the game has changed since the early 2000's, when this was once the most effective style of play against your average player, although there are still concepts of small-ball that any good player will utilize in their game to at least some frequency because that strategy still has some solid ideas for playing in today's poker scene.

Enjoy Daniel's videos. Easy to understand and good information.