diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index d964f03..fb382ba 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -615,6 +615,20 @@ opponent's lanes and the pOut invariants are stated from centre and unchanged th
 his exact scene (both bodies in their left boxes): full left flick lands −5 (the alley), half
 swipe −3.07 (hunting the line, in), full right +1.93 (a full sweep measured from him).
 
+**...VETOED the same day and replaced by the wrong-side guard** (2026-08-20: *"no that's way too
+difficult now - I am dying constantly of out. revert it."*). The relative lane is gone
+(`aimAnchor` deleted; git has it if ever wanted). What survives is the answer to his follow-up —
+*"the ball sometimes actually flies a little to the right, although I flicked left. how can this
+be?"* — which is the absolute lane's blind spot stated the other way round: a mistimed left
+flick's target sits only slightly left of CENTRE, and that is RIGHT of a player standing in the
+left box, so the ball visibly flew rightward out of a left flick. **The aimed target is now
+clamped to the player's own x on the flicked side** (bounded at ±`flickWidth`, so a body parked
+in the alley clamps to the corner and can never conjure an out): from the left box a left flick
+goes at least down your own line, from centre it can no longer cross centre, a perfect corner
+flick and the crosscourt sweep are untouched, and the outward scatter tail — the whole tuned
+out-risk — is unchanged. Verified in his scene: ten rushed weak left flicks landed −2.0..−2.7
+(previously targets −0.7..−1.3 — a rightward flight); the clean full flick still lands −3.92.
+
 **The umpire and the boy.** `aside()` refused during any interlude and the match runs on a permanent
 one, so he was silently muted for the entire mode — the one mode that is literally a tennis match he
 is sitting over (`G.interlude && !G.match` now, the same shape as `sendBoy`). Six dry lines: two on
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index cd01c6f..7defda3 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -659,6 +659,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=292"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=293"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 1f38c0d..82555a4 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -64,14 +64,6 @@ export const TUNE = {
                            // send the ball longer — solveShot still lands it on the same spot — it
                            // gets there flatter and sooner, which is what a smash is.
   aimError: 2.4,           // m of scatter at quality 0
-  aimAnchor: 1,            // how much the flick's lane follows the PLAYER instead of the court.
-                           // 0 = the old absolute lane (a full flick asks for flickWidth off the
-                           // court's centre — saturates near a sideline: from x -2 a perfect left
-                           // flick moved the ball under 2 m and could never find the line). 1 = the
-                           // anchor slides to your own x as the swipe commits, so a full flick is a
-                           // full sweep from where you stand — including past the line: out-by-aim
-                           // is a choice now, and the ring already turns red for it. Blendable so
-                           // the panel can A/B the feel live. Player's rally lanes only.
   aimTrust: 0.3,           // an aimed rally shot TRUSTS its flick: the scatter may still push the
                            // ball further OUT (the chosen out-risk keeps its exact shape) but only
                            // this fraction of an INWARD roll survives, so a mistimed left flick
diff --git a/src/gameplay.js b/src/gameplay.js
index a0acbd8..923df1a 100644
--- a/src/gameplay.js
+++ b/src/gameplay.js
@@ -189,20 +189,22 @@ function doHit(ch, quality, aim) {
     // symmetric scatter is its width mechanic (matchWide clamps it, not this).
     let e = err();
     if (ch.side === 'P' && sway && e * Math.sign(sway) < 0) e *= TUNE.aimTrust;
-    // THE FLICK AIMS RELATIVE TO YOU, not to the court (2026-08-20, third round of the same
-    // report: "when the opponent and the player are both standing in the left service box it is
-    // virtually impossible to flick the ball into the left out. no matter how hard/good I flick").
-    // The lane was ABSOLUTE — a full flick asked for 3.95 m from the court's centre — so standing
-    // near a sideline saturated the gesture: from x -2 a perfect left flick moved the ball under
-    // 2 m and could never pass the line, while the same swipe from centre swept the court. The
-    // anchor now slides from centre to the player's own x as the swipe commits (|sway|), so a
-    // flat tap is exactly what it always was and a full flick is a full sweep FROM WHERE YOU
-    // STAND — including past the line: out-by-aim is his explicit ask ("not about the possibility
-    // of the ball going out but rather the aiming itself"). TUNE.aimAnchor blends it (0 = the old
-    // absolute lane, 1 = fully relative) so the panel can A/B the feel live. Player only; the
-    // opponent's lanes and every pOut invariant are stated from centre and unchanged there.
-    const anchor = ch.side === 'P' ? ch.x * Math.abs(sway) * TUNE.aimAnchor : 0;
-    tx = anchor + sway * (toFar ? TUNE.flickWidth : 2.7) * reach + e;
+    tx = sway * (toFar ? TUNE.flickWidth : 2.7) * reach + e;
+    // ...AND AN AIMED BALL NEVER LANDS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF YOU. The lane is ABSOLUTE (a fully
+    // relative lane was tried 2026-08-20 and feel-vetoed the same day — "way too difficult now,
+    // I am dying constantly of out"), and an absolute lane has a blind spot: a mistimed left
+    // flick's target sits only slightly left of CENTRE, which is RIGHT of a player standing in
+    // the left service box — so the ball visibly flew right out of a left flick ("the ball
+    // sometimes actually flies a little to the right, although I flicked left"). The target is
+    // clamped to the player's own x on the flicked side now (bounded at flickWidth, so a body
+    // parked in the alley cannot conjure an out): from the left box a left flick goes at least
+    // down your own line, from centre it can no longer cross centre, and a perfect corner flick
+    // is untouched. No new out risk — the clamp only ever pulls the target TOWARD the line the
+    // player is standing on, never past flickWidth, and the outward scatter tail is unchanged.
+    if (ch.side === 'P' && sway) {
+      const bound = Math.max(-TUNE.flickWidth, Math.min(TUNE.flickWidth, ch.x));
+      tx = sway < 0 ? Math.min(tx, bound) : Math.max(tx, bound);
+    }
     const tzBase = aim.az < 0 ? SHOT_DEPTH.deep : aim.az > 0 ? SHOT_DEPTH.short : SHOT_DEPTH.mid;
     tz = (toFar ? tzBase : COURT.L - tzBase) + err() * 0.8;
     // A FORWARD FLICK IS A SMASH. Up-screen is the far court, so flicking INTO the court asked for
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 1f491d8..fd86baa 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -876,38 +876,30 @@ test('an aimed shot keeps its DIRECTION: scatter may push it wider, never back p
     'aimTrust*aimError must stay under a committed swipe\'s worst-case aim');
 });
 
-test('the flick aims RELATIVE TO THE PLAYER: a full sweep from where you stand, not from centre', () => {
-  // Third round of the service-line report: the lane was absolute, so standing near a sideline
-  // saturated the gesture — from the left box a perfect left flick moved the ball under 2 m and
-  // could never find the line ("no matter how hard/good I flick"). The anchor follows the player
-  // as the swipe commits (TUNE.aimAnchor); a flat tap keeps its old centre default.
-  startMatch();
-  G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0;
-  const arm = (px, swipe) => {                 // one rally ball, contact at the window's centre
-    G.interlude.introT = 0; G.phase = 'rally';
-    P.x = px; P.z = 22.8; P.swingT = -1; G.placeMark = null;
-    ball.active = true; ball.lastHit = 'O'; ball.bounces = 1;
-    ball.x = px; ball.y = 0.7; ball.z = P.z - 4.15;
-    ball.vx = 0; ball.vy = 2.0; ball.vz = 14; ball.g = TUNE.gravity;
-    G.swipe = swipe;
-    keyPressed('Space');
-    for (let i = 0; i < 30 && ball.lastHit !== 'P'; i++) update(DT);
-    assert.equal(ball.lastHit, 'P', 'contact happened');
-    G.swipe = null;
-    return G.placeMark;
+test('an aimed ball never lands on the WRONG SIDE of you', () => {
+  // The absolute lane's blind spot: a mistimed left flick's target sits only slightly left of
+  // CENTRE — which is RIGHT of a player standing in the left box, so the ball visibly flew right
+  // out of a left flick. (The fully relative lane that fixed this harder was feel-vetoed the same
+  // day: "way too difficult now, I am dying constantly of out".) Model mirrors doHit's lane path.
+  const land = (px, s, q, u) => {
+    const reach = TUNE.flickReach + (1 - TUNE.flickReach) * q;
+    let e = u * TUNE.aimError * (1 - q);
+    if (s && e * Math.sign(s) < 0) e *= TUNE.aimTrust;
+    let tx = s * TUNE.flickWidth * reach + e;
+    const bound = Math.max(-TUNE.flickWidth, Math.min(TUNE.flickWidth, px));
+    return s < 0 ? Math.min(tx, bound) : Math.max(tx, bound);
   };
-  const full = fx => ({ ax: Math.sign(fx), az: 0, fx, fy: 0, mag: TUNE.flickFull });
-  const line = COURT.W / 2;
-  // from the LEFT service box, a committed left flick reaches PAST the line — out is aimable now
-  const left = arm(-2, full(-1));
-  assert.ok(left && left.x < -line, 'full left flick from the left box finds the alley: x=' + left.x.toFixed(2));
-  // ...and a right flick from the same spot lands a full sweep right OF THE PLAYER, near centre-right
-  const right = arm(-2, full(1));
-  assert.ok(right && right.x > 1.2 && right.x < 2.8, 'full right flick sweeps from the player: x=' + right.x.toFixed(2));
-  // an unaimed tap is untouched by where you stand: no mark, and the ball heads for the centre
-  assert.equal(arm(-2, null), null, 'a flat tap from the box stamps no mark, exactly as before');
-  assert.ok(Math.abs(ball.vx * ((3 - ball.z) / ball.vz) + ball.x) < TUNE.aimError + 1,
-    'and its line stays the old centre default, not the player lane');
+  for (let q = 0; q <= 1; q += 0.25) for (const u of [-1, 0, 1]) for (const s of [-0.2, -0.6, -1]) {
+    assert.ok(land(-2, s, q, u) <= -2, 'a left flick from the left box never crosses the player: '
+      + land(-2, s, q, u).toFixed(2) + ' at s=' + s + ' q=' + q + ' u=' + u);
+    assert.ok(land(0, s, q, u) <= 0, '...and from centre it never crosses centre');
+  }
+  assert.equal(land(-2, -1, 1, 0), -TUNE.flickWidth, 'a perfect corner flick is untouched by the guard');
+  assert.equal(land(2, -1, 1, 0), -TUNE.flickWidth, 'crosscourt from the right box keeps its full sweep');
+  // the guard can never conjure an out: the bound is capped inside the line
+  assert.ok(TUNE.flickWidth < COURT.W / 2, 'flickWidth stays inside the singles line');
+  assert.ok(Math.abs(Math.max(-TUNE.flickWidth, Math.min(TUNE.flickWidth, -6.5))) <= TUNE.flickWidth,
+    'a body parked in the alley clamps to the corner, not past the line');
 });
 
 test('the flick aims from the LIVE swipe: contact reads G.swipe, no release needed', () => {