diff --git a/config.js b/config.js
index 3446781..a0d71aa 100644
--- a/config.js
+++ b/config.js
@@ -11,7 +11,14 @@ export const TUNE = {
   swingWindup: 0.06,       // s before contact window opens
   swingWindow: 0.16,       // s contact window length
   baseShotSpeed: 16, qualityShotSpeed: 12,  // horizontal m/s = base + q*quality; perfect timing = real pace
-  serveSpeed: 21, serveQualitySpeed: 7,
+  // the slingshot's pace range. Weighted hard toward QUALITY so a full draw is a smash you can
+  // see: 21 m/s floppy at the minimum pull, 41 m/s at full. (baseShotSpeed above is the rally
+  // volley and stays put — it's shared with tennis mode and the CPU.)
+  serveSpeed: 19, serveQualitySpeed: 22,
+  serveSpin: 1.3,   // extra gravity a full-power serve carries (was a fixed 0.35). Without it the
+                    // net-clearance loop ate the whole smash: a flat fast ball can't get over the
+                    // tape AND come down on a target, so it got throttled back to walking pace.
+                    // Heavy topspin lets it leave flat and DIVE, which is what a smash actually is.
   aimError: 2.4,           // m of scatter at quality 0
   perfectMs: 45,           // |offset from window center| for PERFECT
   aiQualityMin: 0.45, aiQualityMax: 0.85, aiFlub: 0.09,
diff --git a/gameplay.js b/gameplay.js
index 8145dc8..b6aeb1f 100644
--- a/gameplay.js
+++ b/gameplay.js
@@ -151,17 +151,21 @@ function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null) {
     const boxZ = toFar ? COURT.svcFar + 1.6 : COURT.svcNear - 1.6;
     tzs = boxZ + (Math.random() * 2 - 1) * (1 - quality) * 1.5;
   }
-  const g = TUNE.gravity * (1 + quality * 0.35); // kick serves dip a little too
+  const g = TUNE.gravity * (1 + quality * TUNE.serveSpin); // the harder you hit it, the harder it dips
   // CLEAR THE NET. A shambler standing just the other side of the tape is only reachable on a
   // loft, so trade pace for arc until the ball actually gets over. doHit has done this since
   // forever; the serve never did, which is why every shot at a net-hugger died in the tape.
   // The trade is real: the loftier it goes the slower it arrives, and the walk-lead below was
   // computed for the original pace — a lob is a genuinely less reliable shot.
   let v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, s, g);
-  const margin = 0.06 + 0.22 * quality;
   for (let i = 0; i < NET_LOFT_TRIES; i++) {
     const tN = (COURT.netZ - ball.z) / v.vz;
     const yN = ball.y + v.vy * tN - 0.5 * g * tN * tN;
+    // The sim only samples the net plane once a frame, so a steeply DIVING ball can test below
+    // the tape even when the closed form clears it. Charge margin for exactly that sampling
+    // error (descent rate × the worst frame step) instead of doHit's flat quality cushion —
+    // that cushion is paid for in pace, and it was taxing precisely the shots meant to hurt.
+    const margin = 0.06 + Math.abs(v.vy - g * tN) * 0.04; // 0.04 s = main.js's dt clamp
     if (tN <= 0 || yN >= COURT.netH + margin) break;
     s *= 0.9; v = solveShot(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, boxX, tzs, s, g);
   }
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 38ad6a5..a01d87d 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -52,6 +52,6 @@
     <p class="start">TAP TO START</p>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=17"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=19"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/render.js b/render.js
index 5c51637..5117f58 100644
--- a/render.js
+++ b/render.js
@@ -417,24 +417,29 @@ export function render() {
       const a = proj(P.x, 1.4, P.z), b = proj(tx, 0.35, tz);
       const dx = b.x - a.x, dy = b.y - a.y, len = Math.hypot(dx, dy) || 1;
       const ux = dx / len, uy = dy / len, px = -uy, py = ux; // unit along the lane, and its normal
-      // chevrons pointing at the target: they multiply and grow as the draw gets stronger, so
-      // the trail reads as pressure building up rather than as a static line
-      const n = Math.round(3 + ft.f * 5), size = 2 + ft.f * 2.5;
+      // (proj is a true projective map, so a straight world line stays straight on screen — one
+      // screen direction is correct for every chevron along it, only the SIZE has to change)
+      const chevron = (c, size, alpha) => {
+        ctx.globalAlpha = alpha;
+        ctx.beginPath();
+        ctx.moveTo(c.x + ux * size, c.y + uy * size);
+        ctx.lineTo(c.x - ux * size * 0.4 + px * size, c.y - uy * size * 0.4 + py * size);
+        ctx.lineTo(c.x - ux * size * 0.4 - px * size, c.y - uy * size * 0.4 - py * size);
+        ctx.fill();
+      };
+      // Chevrons stepped along the lane in WORLD space, each sized by its own projection scale,
+      // so they shrink into the distance like everything else on the court. They also fade IN
+      // toward the target: faint at your racket, solid on the body, which walks the eye up the
+      // lane instead of leaving a uniform stripe. More of them, and fatter, the harder you draw.
+      const n = Math.round(3 + ft.f * 5);
       ctx.fillStyle = col;
       for (let i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
-        const d = len * (i / (n + 1)), cx = a.x + ux * d, cy = a.y + uy * d;
-        ctx.beginPath();
-        ctx.moveTo(cx + ux * size, cy + uy * size);
-        ctx.lineTo(cx - ux * size * 0.4 + px * size, cy - uy * size * 0.4 + py * size);
-        ctx.lineTo(cx - ux * size * 0.4 - px * size, cy - uy * size * 0.4 - py * size);
-        ctx.fill();
+        const u = i / (n + 1);
+        const c = proj(P.x + (tx - P.x) * u, 1.4 + (0.35 - 1.4) * u, P.z + (tz - P.z) * u);
+        chevron(c, Math.max(1.5, c.s * (0.07 + ft.f * 0.09)), 0.3 + 0.7 * u);
       }
-      const head = 3 + ft.f * 3.5; // the arrowhead lands ON the target, bigger the harder you pull
-      ctx.beginPath();
-      ctx.moveTo(b.x + ux * head, b.y + uy * head);
-      ctx.lineTo(b.x - ux * head + px * head * 0.8, b.y - uy * head + py * head * 0.8);
-      ctx.lineTo(b.x - ux * head - px * head * 0.8, b.y - uy * head - py * head * 0.8);
-      ctx.fill();
+      chevron(b, Math.max(2.5, b.s * (0.10 + ft.f * 0.11)), 1); // the arrowhead lands ON the target
+      ctx.globalAlpha = 1;
       drawRing(tx, tz, col);
     }
     // the draw meter: it fills as you pull and the notch marks the kill line. Anchored on the
diff --git a/zombies.js b/zombies.js
index 8f6d534..9e37191 100644
--- a/zombies.js
+++ b/zombies.js
@@ -195,6 +195,13 @@ export function updateZombies(dt) {
     }
   }
 
+  // ponytail: crude swept collision — grow the contact window by half the distance the ball
+  // covers this frame. A full-draw smash moves ~0.7 m per frame (1.6 m on a 25 fps device, where
+  // main.js clamps dt), which is wider than a shambler, so a discrete point test tunnels straight
+  // through bodies. Upgrade to a real segment-vs-circle test if the fudge ever reads as a phantom
+  // hit; at these speeds and radii it doesn't.
+  const ballSweep = ball.active ? Math.hypot(ball.vx, ball.vz) * dt * 0.5 : 0;
+
   for (let i = zombies.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
     const zb = zombies[i];
     if (!zb) continue; // a bomb detonation splices several out mid-loop and can gut the array under us
@@ -230,7 +237,7 @@ export function updateZombies(dt) {
     }
     if (ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P' && ball.y < 1.9) {
       const d = Math.hypot(ball.x - zb.x, ball.z - zb.z);
-      if (d < (zb.variant === 'g' ? 0.75 : 0.55)) { // the brute is a bigger target
+      if (d < (zb.variant === 'g' ? 0.75 : 0.55) + ballSweep) { // the brute is a bigger target
         if (ball.bomb) { // detonate on first contact, whatever the pace
           explode(ball.x, ball.z); ball.bomb = false;
           spentBall(); break; // zombies mutated — stop this frame's loop
@@ -311,7 +318,8 @@ export function updateZombies(dt) {
     if (!dead && e.y < 1.9) for (let j = zombies.length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
       const zb = zombies[j];
       if (!zb || zb.variant === 'r') continue; // side balls pass the boss; !zb: kills can sweep mid-loop
-      if (Math.hypot(zb.x - e.x, zb.z - e.z) < (zb.variant === 'g' ? 0.75 : 0.55)) {
+      if (Math.hypot(zb.x - e.x, zb.z - e.z) < (zb.variant === 'g' ? 0.75 : 0.55)
+                                               + Math.hypot(e.vx, e.vz) * dt * 0.5) { // same sweep: clones inherit the smash pace
         if (zb.variant === 's' && e.vz < 0 && !(zb.shieldT > 0)) { zb.shieldT = TUNE.shieldDown; pock(0.9, 1800); } // chair blocks these too
         else if (e.pow >= TUNE.zSplatQ || zb.variant === 'f') {
           if (zb.hp > 1) { zb.hp--; splat(0.4); } // wounds brutes AND shamblers