Strangely enough, I was just thinking about this last night...
Think of Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back. Think of the Emperor from Return of the Jedi. I know I'm not the only person who thinks that fighting with lightsabers is just beneath them, plain and simple. Yoda is the mentor. He lifts X-Wings from the swamp and gives philsophical discussions on the Force. He prepares Luke for his battles. Palpatine is the instigator. He watches with glee from the comfort of his chair as his lackeys go at each other with colored blades. When he needs to exert his authority, he stands up and fries people with lightning bolts without so much as breaking a sweat. And when both of them are done, they simply pick up their canes and hobble away. Giving them lightsabers in the prequels weakened them so much by forcing them to fight on the same level as the main characters. It was just done as a pathetic attempt to make the prequels "more intense!!!"
EDIT: And then Revenge of the Sith added salt to the wound by having them fight each other! At least at one point, for a very short time, they did put away their lightsabers and start attacking each other with the manipulation of objects. That is how they should fight. With object manipulation, Force lightning, strangulation, and any other Force power that Lucas could have created. Instead, the only Force powers they seemed to gain were the ability to jump thousands of feet in the air and move really, really fast. Or, should I say, be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and run faster than a speeding bullet?