So I made a JS to try the Dark vs. light event, and I had never had one before. I just hit 26 and have been doing more PvP to get the hang of it. However, I feel like I am spending most of my time trying to catch people. I leap in, they knock me back, and I spend the rest of my time chasing them before I get shot up. Am I doing something wrong? I used to see people with a lot of damage using them in PVP but I am not sure how... the guides online are pretty old.

Any advice?

I went with the Combat skill tree.

Well at level 26 its harder to stick to the target than at later level when u have more passives that will make u immune to movement CC etc. But thats the life of melee dps, u cant expect them to let you hit them freely since your dps is just high. Thats their way to even the odds

Just try to burst them down as fast as possible, or CC them fast so they wont have time to respond your actions.

Actually, you won't get any CC immunity as Combat. Concentration gets 6 seconds every 30 after force exhaustion, but only at 48.

The hard truth is that sentinels are a hard class at lowbies, and Combat is a hard spec always. Not hard because of the rotation (that's incredibly easy) but because it relies on a buff for burst, and anyone who knows what they're doing will do everything they can to avoid your burst - stuns, knockbacks, escapes, whatever.

Once you get more utility points, it'll become better. Don't worry for now, though.

You've chosen the worst performing class in lowbies. Sadly you just lack to many core abilties/ultities and your not on anything near a level playing field. I would advise pve leveling upto 35-36 then coming back and trying it out. It will get a lot better for you once your in your late 50s. Thats the time to really jump in and get you feet wet.

To enjoy lowbies, pick ranged classes.