A polishing pad (104, 300, 400, 500) for polishing a wafer (112, 516), or other article. The polishing pad includes a polishing layer (108) having a polishing region (164, 320, 420, 504) defined by first and second boundaries ((168, 172), (312, 316), (412, 416) (508, 512)) having shapes and locations that are a function of the size of polished surface (116) of the article being polished and the type of polisher (100) used. The polishing region has several zones ((Z1–Z3) (Z1′–Z3′)(Z1″–Z3″)(Z1′″–Z3′″)) each containing corresponding grooves ((148, 152, 156)(304, 308, 324)(404, 408, 424)(520, 524, 528)) having orientations selected based on the direction of one or more velocity vectors (V1–V4)(V1′–V4′)(V1″–V4″) (V′″–V4′″) of the wafer in that zone.