Familiarize yourself with the cornhole game rules

Every game, even the ones you used to play during the first years of your life have rules. Although some of these rules were not written or universal when playing child games, you were not supposed to step or push your playmate. These are the kind of rules that we refer to only that this time they are documented and are supposed to be the first things we familiarize with before embarking on a game.

Cornhole fits well in the description of a great and exciting game, one that has been around for some time now and its popularity continue to grow day by day. Looking at the backyards of a number of homes as well as in tailgating parties and bars, you will see cornhole boards meant to give its enthusiasts a great time. Probably you have seen it and wondered how it is played or what is it all about? Here we aim at helping you familiarize with cornhole game, get a glimpse of its rules, how it is played, scoring and all that need to know about this game.

Cornhole court

You need to be familiar with the dimensions that are required in a cornhole court. The official size of a cornhole court is 8 feet by 45feet. You may not have much room in your yard, this does not mean you cannot set up the court; all that will be needed is setting up the corhnole boards in such a way that you leave an appropriate distance between the boards. It is recommended that the boards should be at least 27 meters apart but for the junior players, the distance between the boards can be six meters less. This dimension also applies to disabled and seniors. If you are setting the court outdoors, it is advisable to have it in such a way that you reduce sun interference; the recommended set up is north to south as opposed to the east to west. For the courts which are to be located indoors or under a tent, a height of 12feet should be available to give room for tossing.

Pitcher’s box

These are parallel to each other, found on both sides of the board; they measure 4 by 3 feet. It is the position where the play is supposed to be when making a pitch.

Foul lines

There are two sets, one for the adults and the other is for the juniors; the adult foul line is thirty feet long while for the juniors it runs twenty-one feet.

Multiple courts

In any event, there are multiple courts, they are supposed to be at least 10 to 12 feet apart from each other. This is meant to ensure that there are no distractions as well as safely separate the activities.

Equipment: cornhole boards and bags

To make sure that players use uniform bags and boards, ACA has come up with the standards. This is to ensure that players do not come to play with their pillows or something similar to that. A friend of mine had told me that he carried two pillows from the house when he went out playing cornhole game. He was new to this and had seen the cornhole bags for the first time and confused them with pillows. I could not stop laughing when he was narrating this story. Had to share this as I do not want you to carry the wrong equipment when playing for the first time.

Specifications and standard of cornhole equipment:

• Cornhole board should measure rectangular plywood measuring 48 by 24 inches
• The hole should be six inches in diameter, centered at nine and twelve inches at top and bottom respectively.
• Front cornhole board should be four inches both top and bottom
• Back of the cornhole should be twelve inches from the ground
• Other specifications touch on the type of materials used to make the board, finishing ensuring a smooth texture and painting

When it comes to bags, it is not the ordinary beanbags or small pillows as my friend had thought, these are special six inches square bags weighing 14 to 16 ounces. The best thing about them is that they can be improvised. If you have corn feed in your house, all you need is to cut out 12 inches of canvas, two identical squares from the same fabric fill it will two cups of corn feed then double stitch on all the sides. This will be an easy exercise for some of us who did home science but for the rest, you can always buy from a sports equipment store.

Now that we have a clear understanding of how the board and equipment should be, now let's embark on learning the rules. Rules are supposed to help us play the game as intended and also get to enjoy it. Always try as much as possible to play by the rules; you will not only enjoy it but will not have a hard time if you happen to play in tournaments.

Pitching distance

As earlier mentioned, these dimensions will depend on whether the player is an adult, junior, senior or disabled. For the adults, the distance is supposed to be 27 feet while the rest the allowable pitching distance is 21 feet.

Playing the game

You can play cornhole game as singles or doubles. The match is broken down into innings when in each a player must pitch all the four cornhole bags. A bag through the hole is referred to as Hole-in or cornhole bag in the hole and each has three points. One that lands in any part of the bag will give you one score. Out of the count bag lands away from the hole, it has no score value.

The contestant who scores in the preceding inning should be the one starting pitching in the next inning.

It is important for the player to ensure that constant contact is maintained with the pitcher's box, otherwise, one may be penalized.

Foul cornhole bags

This is a bag which is not delivered in accordance with the rules

They include:

• Those bags pitches when the players have crossed the line before releasing the bag
• Pitching when the player has stepped outside the box before releasing the bag
• Failure to deliver within the 20 seconds limit
• Cornhole which struck an object
• Cornhole coming into contact with the court or ground before resting on the board

Now that you have a basic understanding of what happens in a cornhole game, embark on practicing what has been learned, it is the only way you will enjoy the game. It is a fun game, one that you will enjoy playing especially in the evenings or on weekends.

If you want anything related to cornhole game Custom Cornhole will sort you out.