The 30-year-old hooker missed this year's Super 14 series to play his rugby in France and Saturday's opening Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand will be the first time he has tasted the new ELVs first-hand.
"That is going to be a new experience for me because I haven't played any of them yet," said Smit. "I'll have to get a couple of tips in terms of how the other guys have played them this year.
"I watched the majority of the Super 14 from France and I've had a fair amount of time to speak to the guys who have played hooker within the squad. I'm sure it will be different, but it's still rugby."
Two key additions to the ELVs used in the Super 14 will be that numbers in the line-out will not be restricted and the collapsing of the maul will be allowed.
But Smit, who has openly queried whether any changes to the rules were necessary, denied the latter would take away one of the Springboks' perceived potent weapons - the line-out drive.
"We've always said (it has been a key to the Springboks game) but we haven't had much success statistically from our driving lineout, no-one really has," he continued.
"All the penalties that get kicked to the corner is a very small percentage of those that actually get put into points even in the old rules."
Smit also has reservations about allowing the maul to be collapsed because of safety reasons, especially at the lower levels of the game.
Two weeks ago a 20-year-old Argentina player, Juan Cruz Migliore, reportedly suffered a broken neck and died from a collapsed maul during a Buenos Aires premier division game.
"We are probably safest at the top of the pile in terms of we're playing with good players all the time. That kind of rule makes me worry about the lower echelon rugby that gets played around the world," Smit said.
When asked if he was concerned about an increased chance of injury to players, All Blacks coach Graham Henry replied: "Rugby needs to be concerned and I'm sure they'll keep monitoring those things."
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