Does Losing Blitz Games on Time Mean You're Bad At Tactics or Calculation?

No, I do not believe so. Blitz is a very particular form of chess. People who are good at the longer form of chess tend to be better at blitz than people who are weaker at the longer form of chess. So someone who is rated 2000 in standard chess would probably beat a player rated 1000 at standard chess if they played blitz because the stronger player has a lot more experience of seeing positions and tactics. But it is not so straight forward. 

Some people are really quite good at moving very quickly and can play blitz very well, beating players that would thrash them if they played with say, one hour for all of their moves. Some very strong players at the longer form of chess struggle with blitz. 

To be honest if you want to improve your chess I would stop playing blitz altogether. Blitz is fun and it is a form of instant gratification. You get to play a whole game in a minute or so. But not only might it not help you chess but it might actually make you worse, reinforcing bad ideas and encouraging you to be lazy when looking to make a move (just make a move quickly without too much thought).

If just want to have fun play blitz. But don't take it too seriously. Just my opinion. 

bump

In blitz, players more comfortable with wide open games and more prone to making exchanges have an edge over those who don't, so it could just be that the set of skills the best fits best wins.

I agree with your first part, disagree with the second.

Yeah, blitz is all about tactics, but no, players who like to exchange a lot are pretty bad blitz players in my opinion. You should keep things complicated by avoiding exchanges, as long as it's not forced, if you want to force some errors in blitz.

Losing on time means you need to move faster!

Seems simple enough, but if I move any faster I'll just blunder and lose anyway. That's why I think it's just a calculation problem but Idunno.

The problem is it takes time to calculate. I am of the opinion anything less than 10 min blitz is bad for your game, just an opinion though. 

yeah, 10 minute blitz is a different game than 5 minute blitz, most will actually find they have time to calculate enough

move to fast and you blunder! move to slow and you lose on time! Blitz is so hard! I get on a roll and man oh man I get hot! I just can not lose! 

Then I run into those mean people who cheat! Man oh Man, that makes me turn red! 

What to do? Stick to an opening you know very well and you will end up with positions that are similar and you are able to play them without thinking to much. The moves are already in your head. 

Love all you hot guys!

Flechettes