A significant change has been made to improve lightsabers in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Talking to Wired (via Comic Book), Rey actor Daisy Ridley talked about a key difference in the new lightsabers, explaining that they are notably lighter than ones used in previous films, allowing for more acrobatic fights.
“The interesting thing about this film is that we concentrate more on the fact that
are light,” Ridley said. “Because the
lightsabers were so heavy, as Eunice said, who is our new stunt coordinator, that it was more like broadsword fighting, which isn’t technically what it’s supposed to be because lightsabers are supposed to be light, by nature. So they actually made the lightsabers lighter for us. We, in this film, have, perhaps one of the most epic fights in Star Wars.”
Source: IGN.com A Key Change Was Made to the Lightsabers on the Star Wars Set