Shivas,
Honestly, I'm more concerned with chunking or skulling a manufactured shot that I am with flushing it too far and I do attribute that to not playing that shot on a consistent basis. If I regularly played courses where there are more ground game options, I think I would practice those shots more. So, to say they don't work is simplistic. They don't work on a lot of U.S. parkland courses--I'll give you that.
Once you understand how far to swing with a particular club for a particular shot, the less than full swing should decrease the possible outcomes, not increase them. You should, for example, be able to take the bad hook or slice out of play. So, even if you have the possibility of "nuking" the shot (which I think can be minimized), you still have less variables than with the full swing. All of this, of course, is contingent on having a playing field which allows for running shots.