Players need to work on tactical pattern recognition and calculation. These are two sides of the same coin. We can't calculate very well unless we can also recognize the patterns on the chessboard.
My personal goal is to be able to either recognize or calculate 3 move tactics while playing speed chess. I think that there is a difference from 1500 to 2000 where the players go from calculating tactics to recognizing more of them instantly. Starting in the mid-1990s, I spent a great deal of time studying tactics and this took me from 1800 to 2000.
Many people claim that speed chess is bad, but I don't agree. It builds pattern recognition and teaches quick calculation, although it depends upon the person. Speed chess can create bad habits and some people just need more time to calculate.
There is this idea called "The Woodpecker Method" and a book by the same name. The method is to study the same set of a thousand tactical problems repeatedly. Each time you do them you will get faster at doing the entire set. Another author, Michael de La Maza, had the same idea in a book called "Rapid Chess Improvement". Before he wrote his book, he first published it as an article, but first, he sent the article to me to ask what I thought of it because I had already created a website advocating a similar idea.
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