Cornhole was first played in the mountains of Kentucky, after which the game spread like wildfire. Here’s everything you need to know about how it is played.
Fabric bags are tossed in a cornhole game. These are 6-inch by 6-inch cubes filled with plastic resin or preserved corn and weigh between 14 and 16 ounces. You continue tossing these bags until a team reaches or exceeds 21 points.
This article will go over general cornhole gameplay and everything you need to know about the bean bag toss, the boards you toss them towards, and the strategies you use. So keep reading.
How to play cornhole games
There are two cornhole boards placed 27 inches apart. Each board has a 6-inch diameter hole at one elevated end.
Each team of players has 4 bags. All the players stand next to one of the boards and toss their bags towards the board further away.
The score depends on whether a bag lands on the board and stays on it, lands inside the hole, or doesn’t land on the board at all. The total score is decided at the end of each inning (when both sides have thrown all 4 bags).
If team A has 12 points and team B has 10 points, team A will win and have 2 points. Then you move on to the following round. Whichever side of a game gets 21 points first wins.
Cornhole Bags
Let’s take a closer look at the bags you throw in a game of cornhole. In casual play, this doesn’t matter much. But it can affect how well you play in a cornhole match.
Here are 3 things you should know:
- Size
- Material
- Design
1. Size
The bags are 6-inch by 6-inch cubes and weigh around 14 ounces. There’s a lot of variation in size, though.
For instance, if you’re playing casually instead of professionally, you may have smaller or bigger bags. Kids’ games usually have smaller bags to make cornhole easier for them. The same applies to beginner and novice matches.
2. Material
The American Cornhole League’s rules say a cornhole bag should use double-seamed fabric bags. This ensures they don’t tear or split open while you’re playing.
A lot of materials can be used to make cornhole bags. Your choice of material significantly affects gameplay. This is because it impacts two things about the corn toss:
- How well you can grip and hold onto the bag
- How fast the bag reacts when interacting with the board
It will slip from your hands if you can’t grip the bag well enough. So that isn’t good.
In terms of interacting with the board, there is no objectively ideal situation. Fast or slow reactions can be seen as a good thing. We’ll discuss how you can strategically pick the best cornhole bags later.
3. Design
The last thing you need to know about cornhole bags is their designs. You want to ensure that both teams in any particular match have easily distinguishable bags. Since you’re tossing them at the same board, it’s important to be able to tell them apart.
Therefore, you’ll find many different designs and colors when looking for cornhole bags. Try to pick a bold design that you can spot from a bit far away.
Picking The Right Cornhole Bag
Material, material, material. This is the only thing you should think about when picking a cornhole bag.
Whether or not the material has a good grip impacts how fast it reacts with the cornhole board. This, in turn, affects your throwing technique.
So if you’re someone who throws with a light hand and prefers to slide the bag up, you’ll want a material with low grip. That way, even if you toss your bag towards the lower end of the cornhole board, it’ll move upward.
However, if you throw high, you want a decent grip on the board, so it doesn’t slip too far off the board.
Consider the weather
In addition to throwing technique, the weather also plays a part in determining the best cornhole bag for you.
Dry weather makes boards slippery
Cornhole bags slip off cornhole boards much more easily in dry weather than in wet weather. When this happens, they move fast because there isn’t a lot of friction. So they’re likely to move with as much force as you apply, which is usually too much force.
Humid weather makes boards sticky
In humid or sticky weather, there is a lot of friction on cornhole boards, so the bags move a lot slower. Most of the force you apply goes into overcoming the resistive forces.
Throwing Strategies
Most people can throw all four bags into the cornhole board hole with enough practice. Once you reach that skill level, you must employ strategies like blocking to win.
If you toss your bag right next to the hole, your opponent has to either slide your blocker bag into the hole to access it or attempt an airmail shot over your bag, aiming directly for the hole.
This is much harder than just sliding your bag in the hole, so it is a risky move for your opponent.
Defensive strategies are often employed to slow gameplay or force opponents to make difficult decisions.
Conclusion
You throw fabric bean bags in Cornhole. The game’s main objective is to toss them in the cornhole board hole a little over 30 inches away from you. It’s simple enough as long as you don’t cross the foul line.
With enough experience, people can easily slide their bag into the hole, so you have to use strategic gameplay to block them and defend your bags.
If you like cornhole, you’ll also enjoy soft horseshoes. Look into the game and try it out!
