Patterns IRL are usually shown on an airfield chart, flown at 900ft AGL or thereabouts, and some will include landmarks to help you with knowing when to turn or if there are sensitive areas you should avoid for noise reasons.
My guess is that those NDB references are just a crutch to help you get a feel for the pattern, and to learn how to gauge distance from it. Makes no sense to fly a visual procedure with instrument references, just look outside.