Heat is merely a byproduct of friction. The more friction you have, the more heat you will produce.
That being said, there used to be a guy here who could polish literally anything, and he did it by applying lots of pressure and heat. He would apply so much pressure that, sometimes if he wasn't careful, he would overpower the spinner and stop it completely.
Consequently, he was the only person I ever saw that was able to highly polish a blue urethane Hammer, and I do mean HIGHLY polished.
He was also the only person I ever saw who could really "kill" the hook of an aggressive reactive ball with polish. He could literally put a "mirror finish" on a ball, one you could easily see your reflection in, and he claimed it was the pressure and heat that let him do it.