CC,
no matter which philosophy is used, the same pilot judgment is required during both square and orbiting Forced landing patterns. If the student (and instructor) understands the visual cues and corrections available, either pattern can result is a good landing. If you simply maintain the sight pictures with constant attitudes then it works.
Too often instructors do not fully comprehend the visual cues throughout and so fail to pass on the essential keys of:
-What visual cues are used,
-How to tell from the cues " now getting high or getting low" , including on base, and
-How to correct the pictures, and by how much
A good training exercise is to pick a feature on the wing and try to keep the aimpoint under that feature during the entire spiral onto final (+/- wind and flap of course)
