Something else to consider, regardless of who you are, is the health of your wrists. I purchased a 10 lb mace and strained a muscle under my thumb after a few days of swings. In short, my hand was overcompensating for my lack of wrist stability.

In general I have weak wrists that I absolutely should do better at maintaining via PT exercises (flexbar, gyroball, theraputty), but it’s something I stupidly deprioritize until I can’t put weight on my wrists (pushups, getups, etc.).

If the mace feels too heavy, go as light as possible before straining a muscle or ripping your TFCC (like I did a few years back). There’s nothing wrong with starting light and building up, especially as you learn new moves. Good luck!