What is wrong with me?

In my past 21 games, all I can see in the app, I'm 4-15-2...

Down 122 points in 7 days... (Near 10%, 1298-1176, not like I started in the stratosphere)

Most games I'm just playing badly... Hanging pieces, hanging mate in 1/2/3... Stuff I should see- stuff I normally see.

Even more frustrating is when I'm playing well, I'm in time trouble or my opponent plays a blunder free and minimal mistake game...

Do I just need a week off? Does anyone have any anti-funk strategies?

It could be a toomah.

Strangely, I've been going through something similar. I don't know how to tell you this Andec25, but you have a thought jammer in your home. I know of a simple way to get rid of it. Just take a 30 minute game, and take your time with it, even if it means you spend the entire game playing only 10 moves. Take your time, and shatter the jammer.

molo said it all, everything.

It might be that you think you are getting worse - so you are actually getting worse, like the "placebo effect". Just play a game without caring about the rating, and have fun. Don't think you're getting worse - it's just probably a minor drop, as -122 rating isn't too much. Also, you might not want to play clusters of games if you start losing too much. Personally, I like to stop if I'm losing four games in a row (unless I forget to stop). Just take a break for a few hours and come back with a fresh mind. 

that's worse than getting to the choppah.

Make a checklist... 

- Does this move control the center?

- Before moving this piece a second time, should I develop a different piece?

- I'm a moving to castle before turn 10?

- Are my pawns supporting each other?

Etc...

such rating oscillation is pretty normal, nothing to worry about. there are times when you just play below your potential. during this year for example I dropped from 2200 to 2050, but recently I slowly climbed back again.

OK now what do we do for the main meal and dessert? 

What a strange reaction to my avatar.

I would bet you had limited experience with firearms. If you are ever in the central Florida area, and are a US citizen (ITAR regulations), send me a message and I'll be happy to provide some free firearms training and a free trip to the range- everything on me. 

If you are in the area frequently and you have a good experience, perhaps we can work out a mutually beneficial training setup. As an NM, I'm sure you could teach me a thing or two.

I know your joking, but I am a certified firearms instructor and my offer was real and it stands. Safety is top priority when working with firearms. Building in redundant safety measures is a key goal to minimize risks.

As for my chess game, I'm still in my funk- I've stopped the back slide but gaining back the points yet.

Be safe out there.

This is fairly normal in my experience.  Sometimes you're just not in the right head space, and your game suffers for it.  Even worse, this can cause you to lose confidence for some time, which also has negative impact on your play.  When you go in expecting or dreading losses, it really does make it harder to play well.  The best advice is obviously to "not care about your rating and just have fun", but for some people (myself included) that's extremely difficult to do.  Instead, I'll say to examine how you're feeling before you play.  Have you gotten enough sleep lately?  Is anything stressing you out in real life?  Do you just feel kind of bleh?  If so, you might not be able to operate at your peak.  And it really is ok.  Super frustrating, but ok.  You also have to remember that your peak is just that:  your peak.  It's how you play when you're playing the best you ever have.  Your actual, average rating is always going to be lower than your peak, often significantly.  The trick is getting that peak to creep up over the years, and not worry about never tanking your rating.  I hope that helped/wasn't too rambley.

I dropped down a bit, but was holding steady around 1170. Until yesterday, 1-9-1, the win was a small variation on a trap, the draw was a careless stalemate. Lost to several folks around 1k... 

A few more weeks of this and I'll be playing folks who don't know how to castle...

“P.S. please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard.” 

I'm having the same problems.

Maybe it's because i have a low rating.

I do not not play regularly enough.

Damn I have this myself at times. There is obiously the answer: go do more tactics, the more you do them the more instinctive your moves will be.(not saying you will find excelent moves without concentrating, but you will definitely avoid horrible moves more)Plus it's the main source of practice on our level anyway so 2 birds with one stone i guess. 

The other answer is, hell yes. Take a break. Go play on other sites, where you aren't frustrated by losing points, and come back when you "feel good" again. 

The ooooother answer is: generally you should play rapid when you are a beginner, it's just better for beginners. 

"..., you have to make a decision: have tons of fun playing blitz (without learning much), or be serious and play with longer time controls so you can actually think.
One isn't better than another. Having fun playing bullet is great stuff, while 3-0 and 5-0 are also ways to get your pulse pounding and blood pressure leaping off the charts. But will you become a good player? Most likely not.
Of course, you can do both (long and fast games), ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (June 9, 2016)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/longer-time-controls-are-more-instructive

thank you for the advice.

Flowers for Algernon