Should I trim?

I remember when it was a crank on the overhead between the pilot and copilot. Then it as a lever on the side of the cockpit and then  a large wheel on the throttle quadrant. There are other types of trim controls in different locations that I no longer remember but each became second nature to use after a very short period of time. Why? It's just too much work to constantly apply stick (or yoke) pressure to have the airplane fly the path you want it to fly. Once trimmed, you can let her fly (with minor adjustments) and enjoy the ride.

Position the airplane where you want it with the stick, then trim off the pressure. You will need to trim whenever the speed changes.

1) Takeoff: Most checklists tell you to trim to the neutral or takeoff position. This places your trim surface in a position for neutral pressure around Vy. As you lift off, you'll initially need back pressure on the yoke. As you accelerate to Vy, back pressure decreases, and will eventually be neutral.
2) Climb: After liftoff, wait to re-trim the aircraft until you've adjusted your climb configuration. Retracting the flaps will cause your plane to pitch up or down, and you'll need to re-trim to keep the nose pitched for Vy.
3) Cruise: As soon as you level off at your cruise altitude, you start accelerating. Set your cruise power setting and wait for your airspeed to stabilize. While this is happening, start applying nose-down trim in small increments to prevent the aircraft from climbing. (eh, let the airplane accelerate to cruise speed then trim off the pressure.) This requires some fine tuning, but once you're trimmed, you can let go of the yoke, and your plane won't pitch up or down.
4) Maneuvers: You should trim in every maneuver. Whether it's holding altitude setting up for a stall, or relieving control pressures in a steep turn, using trim during maneuvers will make you a master of the airplane. (eh, not so much. If the maneuver is going to happen over a short period of time I recommend you get a feel for the maneuver without trimming off the control stick pressure.)
5) Descent: This one depends on your descent. If you plan to a do a powered descent, you'll need nose-down trim in order to prevent the aircraft from wanting to climb again. If you do a power-off descent, you'll need nose-up trim in order to prevent the aircraft from pitching down too aggressively.
6) Traffic Pattern: You should use trim in each leg of the traffic pattern. Remember to re-trim the aircraft each time you reconfigure or change airspeed!
7) Landing: One place most people don't think to use trim is during the round out and flare. If you have electric trim, it makes landing much easier. As you enter the flare, add some nose-up trim to relieve back pressure. This helps you fine-tune your landing, and grease the plane on to the runway. (eh no, don't do this. Hand fly the round out and flare to get a much better feel for the landing.)

From: Boldmethod

I had a chance to fly with a student in the landing pattern.

Land-2: TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS 

TIME: 1-2 hours Ground Instruction; 1-2 hours Flight Instruction; Optional Video Capture

• REVIEW LESSON ITEMS: Turns around a point; S-Turns along a reference line; Rectangular Patterns, proper radio procedures
• NEW LESSON ITEMS: Traffic Pattern Entries; Collision Avoidance and Scanning procedures in the Traffic Pattern; Traffic Patterns to low approaches; takeoffs and landings; go-arounds. 
• COMPLETION STANDARDS: The lesson will have been successfully completed when the student: is able to fly ground reference maneuvers with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots; has shown an increase in proficiency in flying the traffic pattern, with altitude +/- 150 feet, airspeed +/- 15 knots, and maintains appropriate headings and distance from the runway, as well as uses proper scanning and collision avoidance procedures; the student will show an understanding of go-around procedures and how to recover from bouncing and ballooning during landings; the student will be able to make landings with occasional instructor assistance. 

With the local weather getting hot by late morning, we decided to just stay in the pattern and bounce.

Video Notes: Landing Project