Rules of Play

Layout
• Court – A court is defined as the total area of play for a cornhole game consisting of two boards.
• Pitcher’s box – A rectangle measuring 3 feet wide by 4 feet long (length of board) on either side of a board designates a player’s pitcher’s box.
• Lanes – A lane is defined as two pitcher’s boxes directly across from one another on two different boards on one court.
◦ In doubles play, players on the same team will line up directly across from each other in the same lane, not diagonally from each other in opposite lanes.
• Boards
◦ Two boards should be located 27 feet (plus/minus ½ inch) apart, from the front of one board to front of another.
• Foul line
◦ The foul line is designated as the frontend of the board, which is also marked by the front edge of a player’s pitcher’s box.

Practice
◦ Unless unanimously decided otherwise by all players on a court, it is customary to complete a “down and back” practice round before beginning a game.
▪ For doubles play, competing players on one board will complete one round of practice throws, and then each player’s corresponding doubles partner will complete a practice round throwing from the opposite board in the same lane as their partners before the game begins.
▪ In a series of more than one games played by the same teams/players in a row, the “down and back” practice round does not occur after the first game unless all players unanimously agree to have the practice round. Additional practice rounds must be unanimously agreed upon by all players in the game.

Gameplay
◦ Proper pitching technique
▪ A pitch is defined as one player throwing a cornhole bag towards the opposite board from which he/she is standing attempting to make the bag onto the board or inot the hole.
▫ A player is not necessarily required to attempt to contact the board. He/she may voluntarily choose to earn zero points on a pitch by pitching the bag intentionally off to the side or short of the board.
▪ A pitch of a cornhole bag may be underhand or overhand.
▪ When pitching a bag, players must release the bag before any part of the player’s body touches the ground on or beyond the foul line.
▪ Upon release of the bag during a pitch, a player must have at least part of one foot inside the pitcher’s box with contact to the ground and not across the foul line.
▫ No part of a player’s body, except for a hand or arm, may cross the midpoint of the board in the direction of the opposing player’s pitch box.
▪ A player may not step on or beyond the foul line before the release of the bad during a pitch/throw.
▫ In the event of a player stepping over a line, an official can be called to the court by the opposing team. A director may also voluntarily officiate the game without a request from the opposing team.
▫ Once the official is contacted, he/she will come watch the remainder of the match.
▫ If the player steps over or on the foul line during this observation, the player will receive a warning from the official.
▫ For every pitch from that point in the game onward that the player steps on or over the foul line, he/she will have the bag corresponding to that pitch forfeited. In the event that an official’s first witness foot-foul violation is viewed to be intentional, the director can skip the warning and proceed straight to the penalty for violation.

Sequence of Play
◦ Pitch Sequence
▪ A game begins with a round in which the winner of the coin toss chooses who pitches the first bag.
▪ Play continues until a score of at least 21 points is achieved by one team at the conclusion of a round.
▪ A player or team does not have to win by a minimum of two points.
▪ A team is not penalized for achieving a score over 21 points, the game is finished and that team wins the game.
▪ If a player refuses to finish a game, that player will forfeit the game by a score of 21-0.
▪ If one partner of a doubles team cannot finish the match for any reason that game will be forfeited by the team that could not finish by a score of 21-0.
◦ Player Interaction/player conduct
▪ Players may not make contact with each other during gameplay with the intent to disrupt pitching motions. An official reserves the right to disqualify a player for that game resulting in a forfeit.
▪ Talking, yelling, and movement that is distracting to the opposing team is not permitted. An official reserves the right to forfeit the remaining bags.

Complete list rules can be found on the ACL site.