I believe the compound polish has abrasive's mixed in and regular polish does not.

I have a bottle of Vise Slip Agent and Storm Step 3 Finishing Compound sitting right nest to me.  I poured a little bit of both and the Storm Step 3 does have a little texture or grit feel to it compared to the Vise Slip Agent. 

Yes, compounds have abrasives, and do a better job if you want the ball to read the mid-lane in my opinion. They will also, depending on how aggressive the abrasive, change (smooth out) the underlying grit to some degree.

Many polishes do give the ball length due to the slip agents, but that can be a double-edged-sword.  I rarely use a polish due to over/under reaction.  I prefer to smooth the surface more (2000, 3000, etc) then use the compound if I want the ball to push through the heads easily.  For my spare ball, yes, polish.  Hope this helps.

Yes, compounds have abrasives, and do a better job if you want the ball to read the mid-lane in my opinion. They will also, depending on how aggressive the abrasive, change (smooth out) the underlying grit to some degree.

Many polishes do give the ball length due to the slip agents, but that can be a double-edged-sword.  I rarely use a polish due to over/under reaction.  I prefer to smooth the surface more (2000, 3000, etc) then use the compound if I want the ball to push through the heads easily.  For my spare ball, yes, polish.  Hope this helps.

That's probably why I used the Vise Slip Agent a couple times and haven't used it again in about a year.   Not saying Vise Slip Agent is a bad product, it just didn't work for me. 

What's the difference between compound polish and just regular polish?

Watch this.  Description and a demonstration with results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PmhPIoai0o