Yes, you do need to be in better physical condition to wield a sword.
A sword is quiet, a HUGE consideration when talking about creatures drawn by sound.
But, in close in situation, a sword is going to be a lot more useful than a long gun.
In a
real close situation, you may not have time
or space to wield it.
Surely when you're dealing with a zombie horde attracted by sound, you'd
want silent weapons
of some type. Long pointy edged weapons seem only the most practical.
Darryl's crossbow is nice in that it's silent and can be used at a distance ... but like guns it requires ammunition -- in this case, bolts.
One of the things I've noted (along with others) on this show is the use of automatic weapons when their use (atleast in FA mode) is dumb. In the first half of this season's shows walkers were shown coming through a breach in the prison fence, sheriff & son were there using M4s set to full auto.
That was stupid. When you need a HEAD SHOT to TKO a walker semi auto is more effective and far far less wsteful of ammo -- and I ought not have to point out they CANNOT AFFORD WASTE.
Some people like the Ruger 10/22 rifle with a silencer. That'd be OK with a extended magazine. I'm not sure how well this would translate to TV where silenced weapons are depicted with a "pffft." sound when real silenced weapons are never exactly
THAT silent.
However even a silenced Ruger 1022 would be better than many guns and less magnetic in so far as walkers are concerned.