What is cornhole?
Cornhole is an exciting game you can play with your family and friends at your lawn or even at beaches. To score in the game of corn hole, players must toss bags onto their rivals’ boards. The name comes from the traditional way to play the game, which involved stuffing bags with corn kernels and hurling them into plywood holes. Hence the name, corn-hole.
Undoubtedly, cornhole has gained popularity over the past few decades and is now a staple at backyard barbecues, beaches, breweries, bars, and beaches! Every year, the top competitors gather to show off their skills and compete for the coveted “King and Queen of Cornhole” titles.
If you have never played this game before, don’t worry, you’ll make it. But let’s begin by going over the basics.
Size Specifications
Find the ideal area to play. If you are playing in the beach, the same specifications will apply. You’ll also need two sets (of various designs or colors) of four cornhole bags, as well as two cornhole boards.
- Board Top Dimensions: 2312–24-in x 4712–48-in Board
- Top Thickness: At least 12 in.
- Standing Height: 3–4-in. Rear Standing
- Height: 12-inHole
- Diameter: 6-in (+-¼-in)
- Top of Board to Center of Hole: 9 in (+ 14 in)
- Sides of board to center of hole: 12 in. (+14 in).
Cornhole Bag Dimensions
Bag Dimensions: 6-in. x 6-in.
Thickness: 1-in (+-⅛-in)
Weight: 14–16.25-ozFilling: corn or resin pellets.
The dimensions of a standard cornhole bag are six inches by six inches, with stitched seams on all four sides. Each bag must contain roughly 2 cups of feed corn and weigh 14 to 16 ounces. The bags will be made of sturdy fabric. As the bags are 6 by 6 inches, it is best to use 6 1/4-inch pieces of fabric and stitch them together with the extra 1/4-inch. This is probably not a problem if you purchase a cornhole board because quality sets include official cornhole bags.
Field Layout
When playing corn hole at the beach, you have the boards, you have the bags; now you need to set up the cornhole field. A regulation corn hole field will be a flat area at least 40 feet long and 10 feet wide. If you’re playing in the beach, there’s no need to get too hung up on the details. You can play on a bumpy patch in the beach and still have loads of fun. One thing that is important to get right, though, is the distance between the boards. When you have kids playing with you, just let them move closer to make their throw, but you may just leave the boards where they are. The regulation distance the cornhole boards need to be from each other is 27 feet, from front of board to front of board. The front of the board also acts as a foul line for both players. Children’s foul line distance can be moved closer, up to 12 feet away. The pitcher’s box is typically the same size as the cornhole board, 2 feet by 4 feet, and is located on either side of both cornhole boards. People will get upset about the foul line, though; not even your hand is allowed to cross it.
Your partner’s pitching box in a four-player game will be directly across from you. If you begin throwing in a two-player game from the left side of the board, you will immediately walk over to the other board and throw from the right side. Last but not least, choose your bags (four for each team), then get ready to play!
Mechanics
After that, you and your opponent will alternately throw bags. You throw one bag, then your rival, then you, then your rival, and so on. You might not extend your feet beyond the board’s front edge. If they do, a foul is declared, and cornhole bags are thrown at you. A thrown bag may not also touch the ground. Before any other bags are thrown, remove it if it hits the ground and bounces up onto the board. In addition, remove it if it is resting on the board but hanging off the edge. Once all 8 bags have been tossed to the opposing side, tally the results (see scoring below). If your team scored the most points in that particular round, your team will start the next round by throwing first.
Scoring
Scorekeeping is easy. A bag that is still on the board after all the bags have been thrown is worth one point. Three points are awarded for a bag that falls into the hole. Count up your points and contrast them with those of your opponents.
Only one team can score in a round because equal points cancel each other out. For instance, if you scored 5 points and your opponent scored 3, you will receive an additional 2 points, and your team will get the opportunity to throw first in the subsequent round. There will be no points awarded, and the person who threw first in the previous round will throw first again if you and your opponent both scored six points.
When a team scores 21 points with a lead of two or more points, the game is over. The match is won by the first team to win two games. You can, of course, play by your own set of rules. Some people experiment with the rule that you must precisely reach 21. If you exceed the allowed number of points, the game automatically reduces your score to 11 and resumes. Another variation is to add up each point (with no negation of equal points) and then, at the conclusion of 13 rounds, determine who has the most points.
The Race to 21 Points
You score more points if you toss your bags into the holes in the boards than if you land one of your bags on the board, since that is the object of the game. Three points are awarded for any bags that successfully pass through the hole. Every round will result in one point being awarded for bags that are still on the board.
At the conclusion of each round, any bags that are still on the board will not be awarded any points. The cornhole scoring system is a little bit illogical. Points from you and your opponent are subtracted from one another at the end of each round rather than added together and counted towards your total.
For example, if you end a round with three points and your opponent ends with two, you will receive one point to carry over to the next round and add to your total. Your opponent will have a zero total for that round. The result will be two minus three, which is the score. Always remember that the points that separate you from your opponent at the end of each round will go to the player with the most points. A person will continue the trend once they reach 21 points. For instance, if you had 19 points and three points from a bag that fell into the hole, you would still lose the game even though you would have 22 points. This results in the game continuing until exactly 21 points are scored, at which point your score is reset to 15.
Techniques and Tips
1. Remove any debris, especially dog poop that could damage your bags or stones that may injure you on the sand if you are playing at the beach.
2. You can pace out the 27 feet, but if you’re really dedicated, one of your boards will always have a small measuring tape or pre-measured string attached to the underside.
3. Ensure that the position of your boards is very solid. A moving cornhole board is the absolute worst thing ever.
4. Remember that your throwing arm will be more aligned with the opposing board if you are right-handed when you are on the left side of the board, and vice versa if you are left-handed.
5. Holding the other bags, a drink, or any other unplanned object in your throwing hand will help you maintain balance. This is so useful!
6. Discover various ways to toss the bag. An adversary’s bag will be knocked off the board by a low, quick pitch. You can overcome a bag barricade without forcing your opponents into the hole by throwing a lofty ball with some backspin. Your bag will slide into the hole after being spun around like a pancake and landing gracefully on the board. The list is never-ending.
Useful Words to Remember When Playing Cornhole
Below is a list of some useful words frequently used in cornhole that you have to check out:
- Airmail: A bag that usually goes over an opponent’s blocker bag and enters the hole without sliding or bouncing on the board.
- Back door, jumper, dirty rollup: a bag that fits into the hole over the top of a blocker.
- Backstop: the creation of a backboard for a slider to knock into without going off the board by a bag that lands past the hole but stays on the board.
- Blocker: a bag that lands in front of the hole, preventing an opponent’s slide shot from reaching the hole.
- Busting: an unwritten rule that, if a player’s score at the end of an inning exceeds 21, reduces their score back to a predetermined number.
- Four bagger, Grand Bag: a sequence in which a player makes all four bags fall into the hole within an inning; more specifically, all bags must fall into the hole one by one by the player in a single inning, meaning that neither they nor their opponent may knock the bags later from the surface of the board into the hole; there is a custom in some areas for any social player who makes all four bags fall into the hole within a single inning to get to sign the board, frequently with some kind of prize.
- Flop bag, floppy bag: a tossing motion in which the bag is not rotated or spun, either horizontally or vertically.
- Hammer: A hammer is a bag that is thrown as an airmail bag with a high arc in an effort to move hanger bags into the hole along with it when one or more hangers (see below) are around the hole.
- Hanger: A bag was poised to fall into the hole from where it was perched on the lip.
- Honors: the player or team that wins the coin toss prior to the first inning or because they scored in the previous inning.