Time a tap from touch-down, and give the opponents' legs a knee

Oliver after step 1: much harder, stuck at the Steward, "trotz gutem
Timing nicht mehr bekommen". A tap only proves it is a tap when the
finger lifts, so the swing started 100-150 ms after he meant it; the old
volley window hid that, step 1's groundstrokes did not. A tap made on the
gold ring fell from q 0.82 to 0.09 (and a third were missed at 150 ms),
murky balls landed short and the opponent came in. The swing clock now
starts at the touch's age (rally modes only); flicks keep their crossing.

The opponents' legs had no ceiling: 7.3 m/s at the Runner, 15.7 at the
Champion against the player's ~6.2. Past legKnee (6 m/s) only 15% of the
growth survives, monotone, so the ladder order holds; champion ~7.5. v362.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/config.js

@@ -578,6 +578,9 @@ export const TUNE = {
                         // the peer gift; reaching parity earns all of it. Never a penalty.
   peerRun: 0.08,        // parity adds 8% legs on top of the permanent level bonus
   peerWindow: 0.12,     // ...and 12% contact window. Skill still wins; grinding opens the margin
+  legKnee: 6.0,     // m/s past which an opponent's legs stop growing at full rate (gameplay.knee) —
+                    // the player's auto-run is ~6.2. Was uncapped: the champion ran 15.7 m/s
+  legSoft: 0.15,    // ...and the share of the growth past the knee that survives (champion ~7.5)
   matchSpeedBase: 1.25, // racketAI speed multiplier for opponent ONE. 1.4 was calibrated against
                         // the broken recovery (the player never walked back to centre, so every
                         // wide return looked like opponent strength) — with real footwork restored

src/gameplay.js

@@ -1198,7 +1198,15 @@ const matchStep = () => {
   const n = G.match.opp - 1;
   return n + (!G.net && !G.match.cup && !G.match.train ? 4 * Math.max(0, 1 - n / 7) : 0);
 };
-const rzChaseSpeed = rz => TUNE.racketSpeed * leaguePace()
+// THE LEGS HAVE A KNEE (2026-10-14). The ladder multiplied speed rung on rung with nothing on top:
+// 7.3 m/s at the RUNNER, 10.6 at the HEAD COACH, 15.7 at the CHAMPION — a sprinter's top speed and
+// 2.5x the player's ~6.2. Under step 1's geometry a late opponent at the net then covered every pass.
+// Up to legKnee nothing changes; past it only legSoft of the growth survives, so the order of the
+// ladder (and every like-for-like speed test) holds while the champion lands near ~7.5. Wrong-footing,
+// the read, placement and consistency are what climb past it now.
+const knee = v => v <= TUNE.legKnee ? v : TUNE.legKnee + (v - TUNE.legKnee) * TUNE.legSoft;
+const rzChaseSpeed = rz => knee(rzRawSpeed(rz));
+const rzRawSpeed = rz => TUNE.racketSpeed * leaguePace()
   * (G.match ? (TUNE.matchSpeedBase + matchStep() * TUNE.matchSpeedPer) * ((rz.foe && rz.foe.speed) || 1)
              : 1 + TUNE.duelSpeedMax * duelSkill())
   * (G.wasServe && ball.lastHit === 'P' ? TUNE.aiReturnDash : 1)
@@ -1750,7 +1758,7 @@ function meleeCooldown() {
                   TUNE.meleeCool / (1 + Math.max(0, near - 1) * TUNE.meleeCrowd));
 }
 
-export function keyPressed(code) {
+export function keyPressed(code, lead = 0) {
   // THE SPRITE BENCH takes the key before anything else reads it: it is a back-room art test with no
   // ball and no scoring, so every other meaning a key has here is meaningless inside it.
   if (G.bench) return benchKey(code);
@@ -1840,8 +1848,15 @@ export function keyPressed(code) {
     return;
   }
   if (G.phase === 'rally' && P.swingT < 0) {
-    recordEvent('swing', { window: TUNE.swingWindow * winLevel(), assist: assistK() });
-    P.swingT = 0; P.pose = 'swing'; P.poseT = 0; G.swung = true;
+    recordEvent('swing', { window: TUNE.swingWindow * winLevel(), assist: assistK(), lead });
+    // A TAP COUNTS FROM THE MOMENT THE FINGER LANDS (rally modes). A tap is only known to BE a tap
+    // when the finger lifts — it could still turn into a flick — so it used to swing ~100-150 ms
+    // after the player meant it. Inside step 1's groundstroke window that collapsed the contact
+    // quality of a tap made exactly on the gold ring from 0.82 to 0.09 (Oliver, 2026-10-14: "trotz
+    // gutem Timing nicht mehr bekommen"). input.js hands the touch's age in as `lead`, and the swing
+    // clock starts that far along: the timing is judged from touch-down, the ball still has to be
+    // there for the contact.
+    P.swingT = rallyFeel() ? lead : 0; P.pose = 'swing'; P.poseT = 0; G.swung = true;
   }
 }
 

src/input.js

@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ const endTouch = e => {
       // (a bare hold used to fire at a free auto-target; that was the whole exploit)
       if (aim && dist >= TUNE.pullMin) dragServe(aim);
     }
-    else if (!stick.moved && dt < 250) { if (!stick.nearRack) keyPressed('Space'); } // tap — dead if it was a near-miss at the rack
+    else if (!stick.moved && dt < 250) { if (!stick.nearRack) keyPressed('Space', dt / 1000); } // tap — dead if it was a near-miss at the rack; timed from touch-down (keyPressed)
     else if (!stick.adopted && dist > TUNE.flickMin
              && (stick.swung || dt < FLICK_MS || (rallyFeel() && G.phase === 'rally'))) {
       // flick = aimed swing. The FLICK_MS deadline only still applies where the swing could NOT