Something way wrong is happening in your training.

First, read what Mike Rapoport wrote - it's correct and I won't repeat
it.

Second, what exactly are you using to estimate distance from the runway
on downwind? You should be about 3000-4000 ft away from the runway on
downwind. Any tighter is unnecessary and undesirable.

Third, steep banks and uncoordinated maneuvers on a circling approach
are bad news. You can do whatever you want day-VFR (in gliders we
consider 45 degrees of bank in the pattern normal) but when flying at
night, with flight visibility 1 mile in mist, it's just too easy to
lose visual references and lose control. Unfortunately, you really
won't get a flavor of what a REAL circling approach (one where the vis
is close to mins) is like if all you ever do is fly under the hood on
nice days, then lift the hood and circle in good VFR. The hard part of
the circling approach to mins starts AFTER you go visual.

Fourth, your circle should be planned. By that I mean that before you
ever reach the IAF (or intercept the FAC inbound) you should already
have your ground track figured out, and you should know where the
descent begins. It begins at whatever point is necessary to maintain a
3-4 degree descent to the runway. That's about 400-500 fpm at 80 kts.
Planning anything steeper doesn't give you much in the way of options
if you find yourself high.

Michael