i do most of the table hunting and evaluating with people on this site and me, as well as many others, recommend the primary tournament tables available in the US and not Harvard, Shelti and others
the other tables are not worth talking about, they are in most cases, a waste of money...now in your case, your wife was thoughtful enough to buy you a table which is a pretty big damn deal...with that said, you need to make the most out of what you have
shinny surfaces are not in and of themselves bad the ball, table surface, and material of the men is what will determine what kind of "control" you get...you can't really change the men or table surface so that leaves hunting for a ball that will give you what you need
here are some recommendations
the yellow Bonzini ball would probably work...Bonzini was known for using cork balls...didn't roll very true but they had more control than people knew what to do with
there is a painted cork version - foosball direct (which is this site and a trusted source) thinks this is the best ball for situations like yours
http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/bonyelpainfo.htmlWarrior ball - this ball as some real design ideas in it and is a good mixture of weight and control matched with perfect roundness and durability....very good ball
this is the most expensive ball but it is in my opinion the best all around currently...
http://www.warriortablesoccer.com/shop/shop.phpTornado balls - get the newest one called the 5 Hour Tumbled ball
http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/fts-110-005.htmlunless someone else has more experience with it, i would recommend buying 2 of each and see what works best
don't understand what you mean on the sides, can you post a picture...
there aren't many foosball table manufactures who are building tables carefully designed and manufactured for the player - casual or professional...Harvard in definately not one of them
only 3 US companies and a handful of European tables Bonzini and Garlando being the only two you can find in the US
the 3 tables of note...
#1 papa of the group is Tornado - been doing it 35 years and has been the only tournament table for more than 20 until Warrior came on the scene the last 18 months
#2 is Warrior which is owned by a serious player who has made it big (Warrior Golf Clubs) and is trying to actually create a professional tour and is concerned with specific details of table design
# Xfoos or Extreme Foos which was just debuted within the last month and way to early to tell what will happen with this table but it is designed and owned by one of the great players of the 70's who has part of design 4 or 5 other tables before taking on his own...looks very solid and well designed but again, not enough info yet