They key to improving at anything is practice. The more you repeat any given movement, the more proficient you become. This principle applies to jiu jitsu just as much as running, playing the guitar, or mastering your bedroom skillz.
There's a problem, though. Few of us have unlimited time to drill movements for hours every day. Even if we did, we'd likely suffer from overtraining. Jiu jitsu is a fairly intense physical activity. In the beginning, our bodies aren't going to be prepared for the demands placed on our soft tissues or even bones.
The solution- use imagery.
Using imagery is simple. Find a quiet place. Relax. Close your eyes. Using as much detail as possible, imagine doing any given movement perfectly. If you don't know exactly how to do a particular movement, check out YouTube or ask someone at the gym. Repeat the movement multiple times in your head. Move on to another movement. The more you can engage every sense (imagine what if feels like, imagine what you see, smell, hear, etc.), the more effective the imagery session becomes.
Back in high school, one of my wrestling coaches tried to convince us to use imagery multiple times per day. Being a somewhat lazy high school student, I didn't see the point, so I didn't do it. Had I actually used the methodology, I would have been a much more well-rounded wrestler.
Later in my college career, I studied sport psychology. We discussed the research extensively. As it turns out imagery is almost as effective at learning and perfecting new movements as actually practicing the movement. In other words, you can see almost as much improvement by imagining the perfect movements as if you actually hit the mats and practiced.
A few years after college, I used imagery when coaching football. Among my duties was coaching our place kickers. We used imagery extensively during practice and on the sidelines before and during games. The results were great... we had exceptionally accurate field goal and extra point kickers.
I later used imagery myself when learning to run technical trails. Since it was impossible to practice on remote, rugged trails on a daily basis, I'd take a few minutes each day and imagine running over gnarly terrain. The results were great- I improved much faster than I would have without that mental practice.
Back to jiu jitsu. After each training session, I make a note of the movements, techniques, or submissions we learned that day. I have a running list of everything we've practiced. Since us new white belts practice the same things as the more experienced members, I rank things based on comfort level. Some things come easily or are fundamental building blocks for many different movements. For example, I imagine shrimping and upa movements A LOT. I also use imagery to practice passing guard, takedowns, and some common counters to popular submissions.
Some of the more advanced things we cover will be added to the list, but I don't mentally practice them as often. As comfort level grows, I may add some of these to the higher priority list.
For me, the key is to become extremely proficient at a very small number of things instead of being mediocre at a bunch of things. As a wrestler in high school, I had a lot more success with the latter approach. I had two or three moves from every position that I used all the time. I had a few more that weren't as smooth, but could be used to set up my bread and butter.I could have been a much better wrestler had I actually used imagery to practice both my primary and secondary moves.
Imagery is the secret to working on those "A" game primary movements. It allows you to overcome the limitations of time and physical endurance.
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