I don't understand mechanics...

I get all the formulae that we've been taught, and if I get told to use it I can do it without any problem.
But with all the "wordy" questions I never get what formula I have to use and I never seem to get what I'm actually being asked to do.
I've been told some people are like this, and if you keep trying it just comes and you eventually get it, but my exam is in a month from now and I'm just really panicking about it.
So, I guess what I really want to ask is, does anyone else have this problem? And if you did was there anything in particular, other than just trying to do questions over and over again (which I am not giving up on!) that helped?