WTBA Athens (40') Pattern

[Drano]

So my sport league is playing this pattern on Tuesday

http://www.2009wwc.com/pdf/wtbaAthens.pdf


I had a few questions..

There's that light-blue shaded area on the pattern graph, Buff Area, what does that mean? What does the lane machine do to create Buff Area? Does the buff area promote hook or skid?

Also, how should I go about attacking this pattern?
Straight and up the boards with a weaker ball? Swinging it way out with a virtual gravity?

Thanks

[Strike Domination]

My understanding is that a buff area makes the ball's transition smoother. The pattern has less volume at the end of it, so it tapers. If the pattern doesn't have this, the ball will see dry more suddenly, thus making the reaction more aggressive off the spot.

Make no assumptions on how to play this, but I'd start somewhere between 10-15 at the arrows out to 8 or so. With a medium ball, preferrably sanded.

[JAnderson]

To produce "buff" the machine - whether a wick or spray machine - stops applying conditioner to the roller (the roller applies conditioner to the lane surface) and allows the conditioner that is on the roller to "roll off" onto the surface of the lane.

The opposite would be to simply lift the roller from the surface of the lane and forgo the buffer.

So SD is right, the conditioner essentially essentially creates a front-to-back (for forward buff) taper and allows for a smoother ball reaction when the ball rolls through the end of the pattern.

Forward buff area will create gradual transition from oil to dry, so gradual hook.
Reverse buff area will create gradual transition from dry to oil, so gradual reduction in hook.

I haven't seen too many patterns with reverse buff.

Attacking the pattern depends on a number of factors, mostly the bowler. The pattern doesn't look particularly heavy to me. What is the surface? New Pro Anvilane? Old wood?

Initially playing a break point outside of the 5 board or inside 13 board makes no sense because the pattern is flat in those areas. Being an average length (40 feet) I'd guess a starting break point around the 8 board makes the most sense.

From there, keep it simple. The fewer boards crossed, the less trouble you tend to get into on tougher patterns. Keep an eye on where others are playing as lighter patterns break down quicker.