This is an old argument but again.

1st off pulse rate, yeah,,,, it will get up there before you ever take off at a contest. I said mine would not and I was wrong. Common things people talk about.. Thumbs shaking on the sticks, rapid pulse, sweating hands. Trust me as you advance above the bottom level the manuevers are difficult enough that if you do not pay attention your $1500 pattern plane will be firewood...quick. These are not old geezers, well not all of them, many many are guys in there teens, 20's and 30's, the pressure of getting scored down due to a VERY small flaw that most wouldnt notice is,,, intimidating is putting it mildly... honestly.. Most of the younger guys are guys who 3D ok, but want to learn how to REALLY fly with skill.

Pattern may look boring(but NOT easy), and it is sometimes boring for me, (Im a beginner to pattern) just due to the sheer repetitiveness of it. But Jason Schulman, Chip Hyde, Quique and the rest of the superstar 3D pilots ALL cut their teeth on pattern (AND STILL FLY PATTERN) WAY before there was 3D, so its good enough for me. Ask them whats the chicken and whats the egg, they will tell you I promise.
I fly both and believe me pattern done WELL is a prerequisite to being a good 3D'er. You may think you are pretty good, but go try to fly the intermediate pattern sequence in IMAC or AMA pattern with any level of precision at all and you will find out real quick how unpolished your skills are.

Dont get me wrong 3Ding well is TOUGH, but most anyone with decent flying skills can do a decent harrier, elevator or blender with a few practice sessions. It will take months to even be relatively competitive in pattern for even a good RC pilot.

Yup it is boring sometimes, but if you are really serious about wanting to be the best pilot you can be, it would serve you well to make learning pattern skills a part of your regimen.

Try this, its only a taste
1.takeoff and climb out EASY, real easy to about 75'. No yanking the throttle around.
2. Make a smooth 90 deg bank away from the runway and then at the right distance make a smooth level 270 degree bank all the while maintaining altitude and smooth curves and straight lines so that you endup going downwind parallel to the runway about 100'out from the runway and 75' high.
3. Do a 1/2 reverse cuban 8, do it right now, no egg shapes and no wing checks, and come out 75' high on a 180deg opposite heading(downwind) 100' out from the runway.
4. As you pass in front of yourself dont climb or dive or show and rock in the wings, period.
5. Then at the upwind end of the field smoothly pull to vertical, and do a proper stall turn with no visible corrections.
6. As you descend and exit the stall turn pull to level flight on the same radius as you entered the maneuver and at that same 75' elevation.

Try it just for fun, I betcha you cannot fly in a straight line up and down the field and perform those very simple maneuvers mantaining a constant distance from the runway, straight lines, symmetrical curves(radii) and level wings.. I dare ya.. itll be fun

BTW... If you do give it a go let us know how it comes out.

Pat special attention to level flight, banking corrections only with rudder to correct your line parallel to the runway, and no visible over/underrotations during the rolling portions of maneuvers. You should it right on the mark, its a downgrade for every 15degrees you have to roll correct to get back to wings level.

BTW BTW,,,
A proper stall turn(hammerhead) is a straight vertical line up AND down and, the stall turn itself has to be tight, radius of the turn can only be 1/2 of the wingspan, no big wingovers. The plane should stop and basically pivot straight back to nose down with the tip of the tail as the pivot point. Theres more to it but thats the basic idea of a proper stall turn..