We are aiming for probably 8 feet total height from the ground, this nabs us 6.5 of those. As Sam mentioned, we are going to change those springs out to something beefier (ordering them tomorrow). Its giving a bit too much horizontal motion, so if we can angle it a bit better and throw more toward vertical, we could probably snatch a few more inches. Eh, I guess we'll try it tomorrow.
On the note of holding the ball, one of our members managed to talk to someone at a DirecTV (I think) store and nab us an old satellite dish (I thought he was joking until he walked in with it
). Its a bit heavy, but for prototyping its probably fine.
If it changes, Ill post the goodness.