The lower flaring you drill the ball, the more reliant it's going to be on friction to make its turn. The longer the drill layout, the more reliant on friction it's going to be to make its turn. If you use a longer pin to PAP, you may need to use more surface. Looking at your profile, your game sounds somewhat similar to mine. For comparison's sake, in general whenever I throw pearl equipment, I like to use a lower underlying grit and a light coat of polish (i.e. 1000 abralon plus polish by hand with Snake Oil, or use Resurrection then polish by hand for a little extra length), or I use 4000 abralon or 2000 abralon for a little less push through the heads if I need to cut through carrydown a little better. This gives me more control and less reliance on friction, which improves my carry and gives me more options.