Yes, puzzles are good.
If chess is all about pattern recognition, shouldn't I...
You dont need to understand, see as many position as possible. But understanding will help you to remember them..
Yeah you will have to recall them successfuly when needed.. and you will have to remember the moves as well.
So you see it's mostly about memory.
One good method is to replay master games fast but you need to play them yourself. when you reach to a position where you need deciding, wait a moment(not too long) and think then continue and see what master played.
You will remember most of positions and will have a familiarization what to do in common situations.
...be doing a lot of puzzles that normally I wouldn't be able to solve, look at the solution when I get them wrong, understand the logic behind each move and then do them again some days later? I want to git gud fast.