Abstract: A hydraulic spool valve assembly includes a pair of lands spaced apart by a groove, one land comprising a piston face, an adjacent land comprising a hydraulic flow notch, wherein the piston face includes a pair of concentric radially concave concentric. The boundary between the two concave annuli defines a convex split point annulus. The notch is oriented so as to establish a hydraulic fluid flow adapted to impact the split point annulus so as to create inversely directed radial flows across the respective concave annuli. A reverse flow component is thereby established across the groove and back toward the notch to lessen the impact of the force of the hydraulic stream against the split point annulus.