PixiJS v7 — handball pitch motion looks stiff / clumps (help)

[KarcsiHUN]

Hello!

Thanks in advance for any tips.

PixiJS v7.4.3 (WebGL 2D) — isolated handball pitch demo (not a full game).

Problem
Top-down handball match view (7 vs 7 discs). Formations switch on possession; players ease toward slot targets, with roam jitter + simple separation. Visually it still feels wrong: clumps, stiff sliding, attack/defense spacing not convincing. Looking for advice on the motion approach (formation targets + lerp every tick), not art assets.

Stack
- PixiJS Application + Graphics discs (no spritesheets)
- Custom tickMotion: set tx/ty from attack/defense slots, ease x/y toward targets, separatePucks
- Demo files (no login): pitch-demo.html + match-view.js (Pixi from CDN)

Demo / source / video (Google Drive):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hKft7JdmxKVcTg0LciuIPSGGiOTc1T81/view?usp=sharing

How to run
1. Download from Drive
2. Serve statically (any static server)
3. Open pitch-demo.html → Start motion

Relevant logic in match-view.js: attackSlots, defenseSlots, tickMotion, separatePucks.

Questions
1. Better pattern than “formation slots + lerp + separation” for readable team sport motion?
2. Should defenders use ball-relative marking instead of a shifted 6-0 wall?
3. Any Pixi-specific tips (ticker delta, container hierarchy) that help this look less slidey?

Thanks again!