Below are the basic rules for the game of cornhole to get the backyard fun started!
Cornhole Playing Field
Objective
The objective of the game is to pitch the bags from the pitchers box to the opposite side and land the bags on the board or in the hole.
Singles or Doubles Play
Cornhole can be played as doubles or singles. In doubles play, two players are partners against two other players. In singles play, one player plays against another player.
In doubles play one player from each team pitches their bags from one end of the board and the other two players from opposing teams pitch from the other side. All other rules are basically the same for singles and doubles play.
Pitching
Singles Play
· Player A plays against player B
· Each player will play with (4) cornhole bags
· Players must pitch the bags with an under-hand release
· Player’s feet must remain within the pitcher’s box at the time of releasing the bag
· Players take turns pitching their bags (one player at a time) from the pitcher’s box until each player has pitched all (4) bags
· Players then walk to the other side of the boards, record score, and pitch their bags to the opposite end
Doubles Play
· Team A plays against Team B – each team is comprised of (2) players
· Two players from opposite teams will pitch from one end of the cornhole board
· Each player will play with (4) cornhole bags
· Players must pitch the bags with an under-hand release
· Player’s feet must remain within the pitcher’s box at the time of releasing the bag
· Players take turns pitching their bags (one player at a time) from the pitcher’s box until each player has pitched all (4) bags
· Players on the opposite side record the score and resume pitching back to the other cornhole board
Scoring
Woody – Refers to any cornhole bag that has been pitched and lands on the board. Each woody is worth 1 point.
Cornhole – Refers to any cornhole bag that has been pitched and lands inside the hole. Each cornhole is worth 3 points.
Dirty Bags – Refers to any cornhole bag that touched the ground at any time. If the bag touched the ground before landing on the board, no point is recorded and the bag is immediately removed from the board.
Foul – Refers to any cornhole bag that has been pitched in rules violation, i.e. pitching with feet outside of the pitchers box (foul line), pitching over hand, or pitching out of turn.
Cancellation Scoring
Cornhole is scored using “cancellation scoring”. In cancellation scoring, the points of one player cancel the points of the other player. In this method of scoring, only one player/team can score in an inning.
· Example 1:
Red Team achieves 2 woodies (2 points) and 1 cornhole (3 points) – Blue Team achieves 1 woody (1 point) and 1 cornhole (3 points)
5 Red Team points – 4 Blue Team points = 1 Red Team point for that inning
· Example 2:
Red Team achieves 0 woodies (0 points) and 1 cornhole (3 points) – Blue Team achieves 3 woodies (3 point) and 0 cornholes (0 points)
3 Red Team points – 3 Blue Team points = 0 Team points for that inning
Honors
The team that scored points in the previous inning has the honor of pitching first in the next inning. If no score was made then the player/team who pitched first in the previous round shall retain first pitch in the next inning.
Play to 21
Team points are added in each inning to add to the team’s total score. The game is played until one player/team reaches the score of 21 points or more. The winning team does not need to win by two or more points.
The game cannot end in the middle of an inning. So if a team pitches and reaches or exceeds 21 points, the other team is allowed to pitch all of their bags until the inning is completed.
Rules, Violations, & Strategy
· Player must remain within pitchers box at the time of releasing the bag – pitches outside the “foul line” are a violation.
· Pitches must be delivered with an under hand release – over-hand pitches are a violation
· For a point to count (a woody or sometimes called on-the-board), the bag may not come in contact with the ground at any time prior to coming to rest on the board platform
· Pitchers are allowed to pitch from either left or right side of the pitchers box
· Cornhole – bags can land directly in the hole for 3 points
· Slider – bags can slide into the hole for 3 points
· Bags can be knocked in the hole or off the board by either the same player or the opposing player resulting in 3 points or zero points respectively
HIGH-FIVE YOUR FRIENDS AND TOSS SOME BAGS!
Print Cornhole Instructions