I don't know if re-balancing is required, but sword and shield expertise does give you a much better damage bonus (armour rating is insignificant), with animations that are almost as fast.


From the walkthrough;

Single-Handed Weapon Expertise
Your damage when fighting with a single-handed weapon only is increased by *%.
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Sword and Shield Expertise
When fighting with a weapon and shield, your weapon does *% more damage and
you get *% higher armour rating from your shield.
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