[DonRotolo]

We found that a gate latch was fine, but removing some material from the inside radius of the very tip of the release latch helped it release more smoothly.

I noticed from the video that many of the balls did not go in, either bouncing too high or not rolling up the goal ramp. I attribute much of that to the lack of carpet, but I'm wondering if you also noticed that and, if so, did anything to address it?

Thank you for posting that video, it helps us confirm that we're on the right track. Now for a decent ball control mechanism...