I have a polish and a compound. Polish would be better correct?
It depends on the surface you want to achieve.
Polishes: you can usually put almost any grit as a base level and then polish with as much pressure, polish and time on the spinner to achieve the amount of shine/gloss you want/need.
Compounds are usually more aggressive (they have more of duller abrasives than polishes); so you can start with fuller base grit levels and then take it in steps to where you want.
For example: Brunswick often uses 500 grit as the base and then uses Rough Buff or Royal Compound on the spinner to bring the surface to the 3000 - 4000 grit range.
They also, on a very few balls start with a 500/1000/1500 grit base level, apply the same compounds and get a polished finish. (For me this 2nd method winds up with almost no difference from using a 2000/2500 grit base and then applying polish.)
With both compounds and polish, once you gain some experience, with the proper base coat, you can achieve almost any level of polish and there fore skid & backend. As mentioned in some previous replies in this thread, 4000 grit pad over a 500 or 1000 grit base can emulate a lightly polished surface.
With both, experimentation and testing is the best way to gain experience to get the surface you need/want.
*Be warned that the surface you want may not be the surface you need. *