Like most things cornhole technique comes down to practice and to personal preference. Many newcomers to cornhole don’t realize that there are many different ways and variations to master cornhole technique. From different grips to throwing forms and stances, people toss their bean bags in many different ways. Here’s an overview of proper cornhole technique and advice on how to throw cornhole bags.
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Cornhole court
The cornhole boards should be 27 feet apart from each other when measured from edge to edge. If you don’t have much room or you’re struggling to get it done at that distance, many people play with the boards 24 feet apart from each other.
- You can read more about setting up cornhole courts here.
- Also, you can find out more about regulation-sized cornhole bags here.
Cornhole Technique
The first thing to note is that there is no specific form that everyone should replicate when throwing cornhole bags. Just like pitchers, quarterbacks, basketball sharpshooters, all have their own unique ways of throwing and shooting, many cornhole players will develop their own natural technique for tossing their bean bags.
With that said, there are some fundamentals cornhole techniques that you want to consider.
How to grip cornhole bags
It all starts with how you grip the bean bags in your hand.
This is why it’s important to have bean bags filled appropriately and with the right filling contents so that they feel comfortable in your hand. Old worn bags can be too floppy to get a good grip with and overstuffed bean bags can be like throwing a softball.
Truth be told there are many different styles of grips that are used for different purposes. If you were to go watch a cornhole tournament you’d likely see a hand full of different types of grips on the cornhole bags. Some of the variation is due to personal preference but the size of your hands can often dictate what grip is practical for you.
Here are some different cornhole bag grips:
The wrapped finger
Some people like to grip the bean bags with their finger wrapped around the corner of the bag to induce spin.
The scissor
Others like to “scissor” the corner so that the corner of the bean bag is split between their index and middle finger.
The pull back
There’s even a method where you pull back on the “skin” of the bean bag with your thumb on the back of the bag and then toss it that way to keep it flat.
The traditional grip
For beginners just trying to get a handle on the game, I recommend placing your thumb on top of the bean bag while trying to grip approximately half of the the contents of the bean bag. This is the grip that most cornhole players go with and is a grip you’ll find a lot of the pros using so I think it’s a great “first grip” to learn.
Keep in mind that the further to the front that you hold the bag, the more likely the bag is to spin upon release.
You can see what some of these grips look like in the video below.
How to throw cornhole bags
The first thing you want to do is put your throwing arm in position. This is usually just straight down the side of your body. You then want to rotate your wrist so that the bean bag is flat like a pancake when you’re looking down at it.
Then you’re going to swing your arm straight back and then swing it forward at a steady speed for the toss. You want to keep your elbow locked to or close to locked when making this swinging motion.
Also try to keep your tossing motion as fluid and relaxed as possible. Utilize your momentum to get the bean bags to the board. Developing this touch is easy for some but more difficult for others. In my experience, practice is key in developing a natural toss motion and finding the right speed you should swing your arm with.
When you’re ready to release the bean bag, you want to quickly twist or flick your wrist so that the bean bag will remain flat with some spin on it.
The spin is important because it helps it to slide on the cornhole board but it also helps to stabilize the bean bag through the air so that it’s not affected by things like windy conditions. This is kind of how a frisbee works flying through the air.
If you throw a bean bag that flops over itself that bag might get affected by sudden wind gusts. (It also just doesn’t look quite as cool as a spinning bean bag).
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How to stand when throwing a cornhole bag
Like everything else above, people have different ways of standing when they toss cornhole bags.
The traditional way is to step with the leg opposite your throwing hand and use that momentum to help swing your throwing arm forward.
But some people don’t even take a step. You can simply spring your legs forward to create the momentum needed to toss the bag.
And then there are others who step with the same foot as their throwing hand or stand with that leg forward when they throw. There’s nothing wrong with doing this if it feels comfortable and natural, and I like throwing my bags like this. But you just need to make sure that you don’t accidentally swing your arm and hit your leg. To avoid that you can slightly bend your knee when you throw.
Throwing with an arc
You want to put a nice arc on your corn hole throws but you need to practice to get it right. If you don’t put any arc on your toss, it’s going to have too straight of a trajectory and will likely slide right off the cornhole board.
On the other hand, if you put too much of an arc on it, you might struggle to get it to land on the board and it might even hit some tree branches on its way (which by the way is a foul). Putting too much arc on the toss will also increase the likelihood of the wind interfering with your shot.
Adjusting your toss
If you’re playing with bags and boards supplied by other people at tailgates and parties, you should know that you might need to adjust your form to adapt to the conditions.
If you’re playing on a an ultra-slick surface with broken-in, dusty cornhole bags, those are going to slide like crazy so you might need to put less spin and more arc on your toss for example. Or you might be playing with brand new cornhole bags filled with resin pellets, in that case you’ll might need to lower your arc and put more spin on the bags to increase the sliding.
It all comes down to your preference and what you have to work with.
Incorporating strategies
One aspect of cornhole that I really like and that I think is under-appreciated is the strategy element of the game. Depending on the situation you find yourself in, you might want to adjust your toss to accomplish a certain strategic goal.
These are accomplished via the four main types of cornhole throws.
The slider
This is the main type of toss where you toss your beanbags on to the cornhole board and slide into the cornhole. When there’s no other bags on the board, this is the ideal shot for many.
The road block
sometimes you might want to go with the road block approach where you essentially attempt to block the cornhole with your bean bag. In this case you want to throw the bag with the sticky side down (if possible) or you put more arc on your throw so that it lands and “sticks” a landing right in front of the cornhole.
The air mail
This is the most difficult type of shot where the bag enters straight through the hole without sliding on the board at all. It’s difficult to accomplish but if you’re dealing with several road blocks on the board it might be your best bet for scoring a corn hole.
The push
In another situation you might need to go with something called the “push” where you’re trying to push your bag in the hole or you’re trying to push one of your opponents bags off of the board. You’d probably want to throw more of a line drive with more velocity and adjust your spin accordingly.
You can check out a video to see what these type of shots look like here.
Final word on Cornhole Technique
There are a few different ways to grip and how to throw cornhole bags so every cornhole technique could be a little different. But there are some basic fundamentals that many go with on a consistent basis. I suggest trying to find what type of grip and toss form comes natural to you and then focus on incorporating a spin into that throwing motion. Then be ready to adjust for form depending on the type of environment that you’re throwing in and you’ll probably be all set.