brush space not functioning with photoshop and wacom tablet, using big sur.

my new intuos tablet works ok with regular brushes except for the space setting. when i start to draw with the brush i get a streak across the page with each stroke. if i am using the smudge tool everything seems to go haywire. my initial pressure will leave odd little discolorations like a white dot on black mass. i can smudge but it is corrupted by unwanted color.

if i set my space to 0 there are no smudges or streaks. smudging is a huge part of my creative process! i am thinking perhaps there is a setting for the tablet i might be missing? or a brush setting that would work?