Hey Slicepong, yes it’s always important to judge quickly when the ball is high enough to attack and put away. Usually its about reading the ball off the bat and by the time it’s at the net level you should be able to see if it’s high enough to attack. What’s important in these situations is to not rush the flatter attack shot and still play with more spin if the ball isn’t too high to keep the safety.
From what you described your swing sounds good and keeping it compact is important as you mentioned. Usually the higher the ball the flatter you can hit and maintaining a good body position keeping your weight forward.
Usually most pro players still keep a bit of topspin on the ball even when it’s fairly high, this helps keep more control and direction. Of course when the ball is very high like above shoulder height then you can play flatter as you have much more margin for error then.
Hope that’s helpful and let us know if there’s anything else we can help with on this topic. Cheers
