Cornhole is one of the more popular tailgating activities that you will find people doing before football games and even at family cookouts. It’s a great game that can be a lot of fun to play. It can also be very competitive with experienced players. If you are looking to get into playing cornhole (see our reviews of the best rated cornhole game sets), you’ll want to learn how to throw the bags properly. Luckily, throwing the bags isn’t too difficult to master. Below, you’ll learn some of the top tips that you are going to want to use for throwing cornhole bags. If you’re interested, you can read more about tips for how to play the game of cornhole.
Tips For Throwing Cornhole Bags
1. Don’t Treat It Like A Ball
One of the key things you should be doing when you are looking to master the throwing technique for cornhole would be to avoid treating it like a ball. That is unless you are a softball player that has mastered the underhand technique where you’re attempting to have it hit the plate. If you’re not used to softball and you are used to throwing overhand, it’s best to avoid treating your cornhole bags similarly.
2. Stand Properly
One of the biggest mistakes a lot of people make when they are getting started with tossing cornhole bags is having poor footing. Try to get yourself in a balanced position when getting ready to toss the bags. The last thing you want to do is fall over while you are rotating your weight. Try to keep your feet at shoulder-width apart. This will ensure that you give yourself plenty of balance. A lot of people will stand with one foot shoulder-width ahead of the other. This is a stance that will allow you to shift your weight from the back foot to your forefoot. This can give you plenty of control over your toss. If you stand with your body completely faced forward you may find your tosses falling short.
3. Constantly Adapt
One of the key things that you will need to do while you are playing cornhole is constantly adapt. You will have periods where you simply cannot hit the board. You need to look to see what you are doing with each toss and adapt to your results. For instance, if you find that you are constantly under tossing the bag, try to adjust to putting more torque behind your toss. When you are constantly making adjustments based on your results, you will give yourself a better shot at winning the match.
4. Aiming
One of the things that you need to do when you are playing cornhole just like you would playing basketball is avoiding aiming directly for the hole. In basketball, you typically want to aim directly for the back of the rim and/or the printed square on the backboard. That way, you are giving yourself the best chance of having it go in.
The same is true for cornhole except there is no backboard to redirect overthrows. Therefore, you should be aiming towards the center and middle portion of the board. This will give you the best chance of not only landing the bag on the board but also having it slide into the hole. If you find yourself aiming at the hole, you’ll find that your bag slides off the board more often than not.
5. Try To Spin
A lot of the professional cornhole players will look to spin the bags. They spin the bags so the bags don’t have too much forward momentum causing them to slide right off the board. Learning how to master the spinning of the bags will take some time. Therefore, you’ll need to practice this over and over again to get the hang of it.
6. Arc Your Tosses
When you are throwing/tossing the bags, you want to try to arc your throws as much as possible. This is why you want to underhand the bags. If you’ve ever played softball and pitched, you’re likely well aware of what kind of motion you’ll need. If not, you will want to work on it. You want the bag to drop down onto the center of the board for the best results. If you are throwing/tossing line drives at the board, it will have too much forward momentum which is likely to cause the bag to slide right off. By arcing the bags, you’ll plop the bags right down onto the board where they will stay.
Final Words
Learning how to throw cornhole bags doesn’t have to be too difficult. However, it will require a lot of practice. Try to implement these tips above during your gameplay and you should experience better success with your throws/tosses. Most importantly, remember to have fun! Cornhole is a social and competitive game that can be a lot of fun to play with your family and friends.
