Playing cornholes is straightforward and fun. The pitcher tries to get the cornhole bag in the cornhole board a few feet away. Every successful pitch into the hole gains a player or team 3-points—a player or team scores 1-point when a cornhole bag lands on top of the board.
There aren’t many rules that govern how to play cornhole, and it is easy to remember all the rules. Moreover, you can set up the court in a few minutes because the layout is simple. You will need the right equipment for the game and understand how to keep score.
This article explores everything you need to know about playing cornholes.
Table of Contents
Equipment for Cornholes Games
The equipment for playing cornholes is cornhole bags and cornhole boards. There are standards as to the size and dimensions of the bags and the boards. All the measurements should be adhered to so that players have a fair chance of winning when playing.
- Cornhole Boards
The boards should be made using new wood. Blemishes can distract or mislead a player looking to aim for the hole. Each board should be 47.5-48 inches in length and 23.5-24 inches wide.
The plywood should be ½ an inch thick. You can opt for other materials like plastic if you are using the cornhole board in your backyard.
The length of the board is the same for junior and senior games. What changes is the layout of junior games compared to that of seniors. Therefore juniors have to throw cornhole bags at shorter distances than seniors.
Each cornhole board has a hole 6″ in diameter. It is placed nine inches from the top of the board. There is a distance of 12″ on each side from the hole to the board’s edge. The back of the cornhole board is 12 inches high, while the front is 3-4 inches high.
Therefore, a cornhole board should be slanting forwards and the hole visible to players.
The finishing on the board should be smooth. You can choose a board with a semi-gloss finish if that is more to your style. However, please don’t choose a high gloss finish that will make bags that slide to the ground when it misses its mark.
- Cornhole Bag
Cornhole bags should be 6.25” by 6.25” squares. The seams are 0.25” on all sides to ensure they don’t bust when a player throws the bag. Therefore, the bag is roughly 6″ x 6″ when it is full of corn feed. Each bag contains about two cups of corn feed and weighs about 14-16 ounces.
You can substitute corn feed for plastic pellets to create all-weather cornhole bags. Ensure that the fabric used to make cornhole bags is durable. Some players tend to throw the bags with too much force, causing the seams to come open.
How to Play Cornhole
Playing cornhole is simple. One player needs to toss a cornhole bag into the hole on the cornhole board. Each toss can earn a player or team a score or not.
A scoreboard keeps track of points each player or team accumulates. Before we go into how to play cornhole, let’s look at the field’s layout for an easy understanding of how to play.
- Court Layout
A court should cornhole boards with their front ends 27 feet apart for seniors and 12-15 feet apart for juniors. A distance of 3-4 feet beside the cornhole boards acts as the pitcher’s box for the players.
Players should never have their feet at the front of a cornhole board while pitching because it is considered a foul. Assume that there is a line parallel to the front of the cornhole board and the pitcher boxes.
- Single Player Matches
Once you have set up the cornhole boxes, it is time to start playing the game. Single player matches are straightforward. Each player gets four cornhole bags and stands alongside one of the cornhole boards. When each player picks a side, the game begins.
Player A will start the game by pitching a cornhole bag into player B’s cornhole board. The players will alternate each bag until all four bags are gone.
Meaning when player A pitches the first bag, player B will pitch their first bag, and so on.
Once the bags are gone, they will switch sides and take the score. Each bag inside the hole is 3-points, and each one on top of the board is 1-point.
Any bag hanging above the hole in the cornhole board gets 1-point. All the other cornhole bags that fell astray from the cornhole board do not get the point.
After the score is taken, players pick up their cornhole bags and pitch from the opponent’s side. They will keep alternating sides after each inning until one of them wins the game. The first one to get 21 points wins the game.
- Double Player Matches
A double-player match is similar to a single-player match, except teams do not switch sides after an inning. Therefore, each team stays on their side from the beginning to the end of a match.
Each team gets four cornhole bags, and players alternate pitching all four balls. At the end of an inning, the player at the foot of the cornhole board takes the score.
The game will keep going until one team wins the game by scoring 21 points first. It may seem simple, but partnering with a team player who isn’t good at throwing a bag can cost you many points. Overall, it is a fun outdoor game that compels people to be competitive.
- Cornhole Scoring
Scores are done using a method called cancellation. For example, say team one has 3-points after the first inning, and team two has a score of 6-points.
The three points cancel out the three points from the team two’s total. The end score of that inning will be team one 0-points and team two 3-points.
Say team one scores 5-points in the second inning, and team two scores 12 points. The total of team two’s points will be 15 points. Judges will cancel out 5-points from each team. The final score after the second inning will be 0-points for team one and 10-points for team two.
The process continues until the team that reaches 21 points first becomes the winner. It becomes necessary for players to earn 3-points with each score to stay ahead of the competition.
How to Throw a Cornhole bag
The simplest way to throw a cornhole bag is using the underhand and aiming for the hole on the opponent’s side cornhole boards. Most players prefer to spin the bag a little like a Frisbee to give it momentum and increase the odds of going into the hole.
However, you have to be careful not to spin the bag too much as it will go out of the court. You can use the first bag to gauge how much force you need to score 3-points.
After that, keep your force even to endure increasing the odds of scoring 3-points with each bag you throw.
What are the Rules of Cornhole?
There are a few rules that you must familiarize yourself with before you start playing. Breaking any of the rules will result in a foul bag. The penalty for fouls is removing the player on the wrong from the court before the game continues.
Below are the rules you should follow.
- Players must pitch a bag within 20 seconds, which is the allotted time for each pitch.
- Players must stay within the pitcher’s box whenever they execute a pitch.
- Do not cross the foul lines when pitching.
- All cornhole bags must be pitched from the same pitcher’s box during an inning.
- Players should not remove cornhole bags from the board until scoring is done. Removing the bags before scoring can result in the non-offending team getting rewarded 12 points for the inning.
- Once the bag leaves your hand after the forward swing during an inning, it will be considered a pitch.
- A player can pick up a bag when it falls before the final swing of a pitch. Therefore, if a bag falls when you are drawing your hand back, you can pick it up and continue with the pitch.
- Aiming the bag outside the court will result in penalties.
- It is a violation of rules for a bag to hit the ground before it hits the cornhole board.
Overall, practice improves the aim of a player and reduces the odds of the player breaking the rules during a cornhole match. It is essential to maintain the rules when kids are playing at home to learn how to play cornhole the right way.
Who Pitches First?
The winner of the last inning gets the honor of pitching first. Suppose the inning was a tie. The team pitched in the last inning pitches first in the next one.
Therefore, the scores of each inning determine who will start the next one.
Conclusion
Cornholes is a fun game that kids and parents can play together outdoors during family bonding time. It is a competitive sport, and the governing body in the U.S.A. is the American Cornhole Association (ACA).
The body is responsible for publishing the game guidelines and updating the public of any recent changes.
Cornhole is suitable for both adults and children. You can follow the court guidelines when setting up a juniors court. Generally, you can use the game to get kids outdoors and engage them in some physical activities.
There are few chances of getting injuries when playing cornhole, making it a family-friendly game.
from Best Playground Sets https://bestplaygroundsets.com/how-to-play-cornhole/
via Best Playground Sets
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