Side swing pushed my hitbox which was squeezed between zombies and the wall, which pushed me off. First time falling because of that. I honestly got lucky in my bad luck there lol
Keep in mind where your axe hits is where it physically is. Since at the beginning of your swing it is to your right, you need to overcompensate your aiming to the left of the target. There's also the "side stepping" strat. Basically as if you're about to make a runner circle around you, but you do it just barely so the runners "falls" into your axe, and doesn't run in a straight line towards you, therefore giving you more leeway in your axe timing. If there are multiple runners, try to get the most multi hits possible. You're not forced to swing on the first runner, you can circle it then hit it along with the other runners coming. Side swing is usually better for runners because the axe physically covers more horizontal area when it is turned flat as opposed to when it is vertical with an upswing, which is more vulnerable to sudden direction changes, which often happens with runners. You also cannot see where your axe is with upswing for a good amount of time, making you even more likely to miss. There are some scenarios where upswing can be good if they are all lined up for example. Or to headshot. There's also a more advanced technique for side swings that I call "sweeping". You manipulate where your axe physically is by turning your character so your axe can hit a runner it wouldn't have otherwise. Life saving technique if you can master it. You can see examples of that technique in my wave 52 clutch at 28 seconds and 3 minutes. Here's an example of why I don't like the upswing. The side swing would have hit that runner. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wWB_D4BwMLc.htmlsi=Zo5oM1mmzisSFVfZ@@aliyahlee2048
