worrab, is "constant aspect approach" another term for including a diagonal leg and never loosing sight of where you intend to plonk the aircraft? I believe this is taught in the RAF....correct me if not the case.
As far as HFD's directions for timings, etc, 30 seconds here, 40 seconds there, that to my mind is VERY CONFUSING. That would clutter up my brain at a time I need to be looking ahead and thinking and estimating present position, wind drift, height, angle. As soon as you throw in prescribed timings, you are making something complicated that is really fairly simple. Has he ever done any approaches in a glider, I wonder? and how long ago?
I used to ask my students, What is the difference between flying a circuit at the gliding club or flying a circuit into a farmer's field? and the student would faff about naming all the possibilities. The answer is, There is No Difference Except you Don't Have to worry about the Traffic. So every gliding circuit even at the home field where you have a rough idea of your height relative to your position, is a practice field landing.
Having chosen the reference point, is it moving up the canopy? You are undershooting, put the airbrakes away. Is it moving down the canopy? overshooting. More airbrakes. (some call them spoilers. They do NOT slow you down, they simply increase or reduce the rate of descent. Excellent device for accurate touchdowns.