diff --git a/gameplay.js b/gameplay.js
index 748c2b2..d0aad08 100644
--- a/gameplay.js
+++ b/gameplay.js
@@ -123,8 +123,14 @@ function doHit(ch, quality, aim) {
   ball.kills = 0;     // fresh shot: multi-kill streak restarts
   ball.bomb = false; ball.flame = false; // only a consuming serve arms these; any other hit clears them
   if (ch.side === 'P') { // shot marker: where this will land — red means it's going out
-    const ok = G.mode !== 'tennis' || (Math.abs(tx) <= COURT.W / 2 + 0.02 && tz >= -0.02 && tz <= COURT.netZ);
-    G.outMarker = { x: tx, z: tz, out: !ok, t: 1.3 };
+    // TENNIS ONLY. It answers "did that land in?", and splatter does not ask: `out` could never be
+    // true there, so it was a permanent yellow ring on the grass carrying no information — and
+    // sitting under the shambler for 1.3 s, which is longer than the gap before you aim again.
+    // That ring, not the new mark, is the circle that seemed to live under their feet.
+    if (G.mode === 'tennis') {
+      const ok = Math.abs(tx) <= COURT.W / 2 + 0.02 && tz >= -0.02 && tz <= COURT.netZ;
+      G.outMarker = { x: tx, z: tz, out: !ok, t: 1.3 };
+    }
     G.aiReactT = 0; // CPU hasn't read the shot yet
   }
   sfx(ch.side === 'P' ? 'tennis-player' : 'tennis-opponent', 0.9, { reverb: true }); // recorded racket strike, per side
@@ -257,7 +263,9 @@ function hitServe(sv, quality, aim = null) {
     }
   }
   if (wsel > 0 && slotStock(wsel) <= 0) G.weapon = 0; // that was the last tin — hand back to plain balls
-  if (sv.side === 'P') G.outMarker = { x: boxX, z: tzs, out: G.mode === 'tennis' && !inServeBox(boxX, tzs), t: 1.3 };
+  // tennis only, same reason as doHit's: a splatter serve lands at a shambler's feet, and the ring
+  // sat there in yellow for 1.3 s saying nothing — right where the aim mark is trying to be read.
+  if (sv.side === 'P' && G.mode === 'tennis') G.outMarker = { x: boxX, z: tzs, out: !inServeBox(boxX, tzs), t: 1.3 };
   G.phase = 'rally'; sfx(sv.side === 'P' ? 'tennis-player' : 'tennis-opponent', 0.9, { reverb: true }); // recorded serve strike, per side
   sv.pose = 'serve'; sv.poseT = 0;
   if (quality > 0.999) { G.flash = { text: 'PERFECT', t: 0.7 }; G.hitstop = 0.05; }
diff --git a/render.js b/render.js
index b191ebe..790a8cb 100644
--- a/render.js
+++ b/render.js
@@ -487,20 +487,29 @@ function drawShotBand(a, u0) {
     ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(prev.x, prev.y); ctx.lineTo(p.x, p.y); ctx.stroke();
     prev = p;
   }
-  // The mark sits on the BODY, not at his feet. That is where the ball actually strikes (the hit
-  // test is a radius at any height under 1.9 m) and where the wound will be, so a ring on the grass
-  // was pointing at the one part of the shambler the shot has nothing to do with. Filled and washed
-  // out in the band's own colour rather than a hard 2px ring: it marks without looking like a decal
-  // stuck on the lawn.
+  ctx.globalAlpha = 1; ctx.lineWidth = 1;
+}
+
+// The target mark, drawn AFTER the bodies — it is a mark ON the shambler, so painting it with the
+// rest of the band (which happens before the sprite pass, so a nearer body correctly occludes the
+// arc) hid it completely behind the very thing it was marking. That is why it was never once seen.
+// It sits on the BODY: that is where the ball actually strikes (the hit test is a radius at any
+// height under 1.9 m) and where the wound lands, so a ring on the grass pointed at the one part of
+// a shambler the shot has nothing to do with. Filled and washed out in the band's own colour
+// rather than a hard 2px ring, so it marks without looking like a decal stuck to the lawn.
+function drawAimMark(a, u0) {
+  const left = 1 - u0;
+  if (left <= 0.01) return;
+  const col = a.q >= TUNE.zSplatQ ? (a.zt ? UI.hot : UI.warm) : '#9db4d0';
   const onBody = !!a.zt;
   const m = proj(a.tx, onBody ? 0.95 : 0, a.tz);
-  ctx.globalAlpha = (onBody ? 0.34 : 0.24) * left;
+  ctx.globalAlpha = (onBody ? 0.42 : 0.24) * left;
   ctx.fillStyle = col;
   ctx.beginPath();
   if (onBody) ctx.ellipse(m.x, m.y, m.s * 0.26, m.s * 0.38, 0, 0, 7); // upright, over the torso
   else ctx.ellipse(m.x, m.y, m.s * 0.30, m.s * 0.12, 0, 0, 7);        // flat, lying on the grass
   ctx.fill();
-  ctx.globalAlpha = 1; ctx.lineWidth = 1;
+  ctx.globalAlpha = 1;
 }
 
 function drawRing(x, z, color) {
@@ -938,13 +947,16 @@ export function render() {
   // Because the arc terminates at the auto-picked target, a weak pull and a full one at the same
   // shambler draw the SAME curve in different colours — which is the "distance is free" rule made
   // visible instead of merely documented.
-  if (G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && (G.phase === 'pretoss' || G.phase === 'toss' || G.phase === 'rally')) {
-    // While pulling: the live preview, whole. After release: the same arc with its tail already
-    // eaten, drawn from where the ball has got to. G.aim wins — a new pull replaces the last shot's
-    // leftovers rather than drawing two bands at once.
-    const band = G.aim ? previewServe(G.aim) : G.trail;
-    if (band) drawShotBand(band, band === G.trail ? band.t / band.T : 0);
-  }
+  // While pulling: the live preview, whole. After release: the same arc with its tail already
+  // eaten, drawn from where the ball has got to. G.aim wins — a new pull replaces the last shot's
+  // leftovers rather than drawing two bands at once. Held for the frame because the MARK on the
+  // far end has to wait for the bodies to be drawn (see drawAimMark below) and previewServe is a
+  // full ballistic solve — worth doing once.
+  const band = G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude
+    && (G.phase === 'pretoss' || G.phase === 'toss' || G.phase === 'rally')
+    ? (G.aim ? previewServe(G.aim) : G.trail) : null;
+  const bandU0 = band && band === G.trail ? band.t / band.T : 0;
+  if (band) drawShotBand(band, bandU0);
 
   // far-side drawables in z order (far → near), then the net, then the near side
   const farSide = [
@@ -969,6 +981,7 @@ export function render() {
   if (G.mode === 'eaten' && G.eatenT < EATEN_BURST) // the dying man takes his place in the queue
     nearSide.push({ z: (G.eatenAt || P).z - 0.12, f: drawDying });
   nearSide.sort((a, b) => a.z - b.z).forEach(d => d.f());
+  if (band) drawAimMark(band, bandU0); // ...now that there is a body to mark
 
   // server idly bouncing the ball while waiting
   if (G.phase === 'pretoss') {