Samuel,
If your objective is to fly
over the NDB then your method (following the needle) will take you to the NDB allright but if there is any significant wind it will not do so in a direct track.
It's hard to explain without drawing diagrams. I did a quick google on "ndb tracking" and it turns up a load of hits including
this one which explains it on page 9.
It sounds like you need to learn more about NDB and VOR navigation before you use them for real. Both are easy enough but making the wind correction needs some situational awareness.
Radio navigation is an excellent way to navigate but I would say the time to use radio nav is all the time; not after you have got lost using some other method.