You're absoloutly right about keeping your eyes out of the cockpit...
probably something I should stress more when I teach.

I did my tailwheel endorsement in a SuperCub. My instructor was a long time
ag-pilot that grew up with airplanes. Because the nose of the SC slants
downward you have to drop the nose below the horizon to recover, so he
taught me to first recover by dropping the nose below the horizon, then
check the wing with the horizon, then go back to the nose. Eyes always
outside comparing your airplane to the horizon. He taught stall entry the
same way, compare the wing to the horizon, learn the attitude, and feel the
airplane. Once you learn the attitude, you can keep it constant and fly
the SC along in and out of a stall all day long with only subtle control
changes.

Jim