You could refer to this older thread on
8's on Pylons for one thing.
The distance you are from the pylon doesn't affect anything- it's all about your pivotal altitude. I know it's hard to take this on faith so go through the math on the above thread and see. Don't get caught up in theory, just accept that altitude above ground is the only thing that affects things very much in this maneuver. It's a simple maneuver in theory and a challenge to do.
Pylon moves ahead of the wingtip-> dip the nose to catch it.
Pylon moves behind the wingtip-> climb the airplane to catch it.
After setting the throttle for Va indicated by the airspeed dial in level flight, don't touch it again. Don't even put your hand on it. It's not about power, its about your ground speed. Pivotal altitude is proportional to the square of the GS. Go through in your mind what ground speed does on the various quadrants of the course. There will be a higher GS on the downwind legs and slower GS on the upwind legs. This is your clue that on downwinds you will need a higher altitude height and on the upwinds a lower one. How much is the skill part. If the winds are more than 25 knots I would suggest doing the manuever another day when things are calmer there, because to make it work out you would have to climb and dip too dramatically.