Hey Dave,
Overall, does the Contra help, or hurt, with the reverse knife edge top hat?
It's true that a Contra Drive will scrub of speed quickly if you let it, and speed is a good way to get knife edge authority in a downline knife edge corner, however, it should also give you more control of the downline speed going into the corner, preventing you from entering too fast.
On balance, it is a positive or a negative?
Brenner ...