On
the base to final turn is not the time to have your head in the cockpit.

Sure it is, if you are a low time student pilot trying to salvage an
overshot turn before you have developed a good feel for the plane. Use the
instruments to get your configuration and attitude right, then get your eyes
back outside. You should always be dividing your attention between inside
and outside.

What happens to low hours, and even high hours pilots when they are
stressed, is fixating on the view outside the plane and pushing the plane
into a stall spin trying to turn too tightly back to the runway centerline.
A short period of using the instruments to be sure airspeed, ball, and bank
are not out of safe limits isn't going to significantly increase the chances
of a midair. The final approach should have been cleared before the turn.
By the time an overshoot becomes an issue, the most probable midair will be
someone hitting you from behind and nobody is looking back there anyway.

Pilots, especially students, should be checking airspeed, etc. all through
the pattern. What I'm really saying is that just after you realize that
you've overshot is an important time to do this again. Don't depart from
the airspeed / bank parameters you've established for the pattern in order
to salvage a botched turn. Just stick with the program and you'll probably
find there is still plenty of time to make the runway. If not, a go around
is always a good thing to practice.

--
Roger Long