[archwaykitten]

A lawyer looking at the rules would say that oscilating back and forth would be illegal, and they would be right according to the way the rule is worded.

As an engineer, I would think that oscilating back and forth a little is fine. You aren't breaking the spirit of any rules. The "no lawyering" thing has to work both ways, right?

But if you're really worried about it, and if controlling your oscilations proves complicated, you might try adding something to your kicker (or elsewhere) that will stick out beyond the plane during the oscillations. That way even though part of your kicker is oscillating in and out, your "full kicker aparatus" still only enters and exits once.