ACA Official Rules of Cornhole / Corn Toss

ACA Official Rules of Cornhole / Corn Toss 


These are the official rules and regulations of the: 
American Cornhole Association (ACA). 


The rules and regulations have been developed and ratified by a majority of ACA members for ACA sanctioned tournament play. The rules are not a mandate, but rather a guideline to promote consistent and standard Cornhole / Corn Toss play around the country.


It is the responsibility of each ACA member to strive to meet these rules and regulations in all ACA sanctioned tournaments.


See ACA Sanctioned Tournaments for a listing of scheduled tournaments. 

OFFICIAL RULES OF CORNHOLE / CORN TOSS 
Published By The AMERICAN CORNHOLE ASSOCIATION (ACA) 
(Last Revision July 13, 2009) 


RULE 1 - COURT LAYOUT 


Section A. Dimensions - 
A Cornhole / Corn Toss court shall be a level rectangular area 10 ft wide and a minimum of 45 ft long. The court should consist of two corn platforms, designated pitchers boxes and foul lines. A north-south setting is recommended for outdoor courts to minimize the effects of the sun. 









                                                                                 






Section B. Pitcher's Box - The pitcher's box is the rectangle 4 ft by 3 ft at each end of the court, parallel and on both sides of Cornhole platforms. 
Each contestant must remain in the pitchers box while pitching the corn bag. 


Section C. Multiple Courts - To eliminate distraction and safely separate activity, Cornhole / Corn Toss courts adjacent to each other shall be a minimum of 10 feet apart. 
A greater distance (at least 12 feet) is preferable. 


Section D. Foul Lines – There are two sets of foul lines: 
(1) open adult play and (2) junior play. 
The open adult play foul lines shall be defined as an imaginary line 30 ft. from the beginning of the hole in the opposite Cornhole platform. 
For Cornhole / Corn Toss sets that meet ACA specifications,
this foul line will be parallel to the front of the cornhole platform. 
The junior play foul lines shall be defined as an imaginary line 21 ft. from the beginning of the hole in the opposite cornhole platform.  


Section E. Covered Or Indoor Courts - The regulations for covered and indoor Cornhole / Corn Toss courts are exactly the same with the additional stipulation that they shall have a minimum 12 foot vertical clearance to the lowest possible obstruction. 


The American Cornhole Organization has a very insightful video, explaining the game of Cornhole in a unique presentation. 

Click Here To View The Video

RULE 2 - PLAYING EQUIPMENT - CORNHOLE PLATFORMS AND BAGS 

What is Cornhole?


It has been called many things, Corn Toss, Bean Bag, Bean Toss, Soft Horseshoes, Indiana Horseshoes, but to many of us born and raised in Kentucky and the southern part of Ohio, the game is passionately referred to as Cornhole. 


It has been said that the game originated in Germany in the 14th century, and then was rediscovered in the hills of Kentucky over 100 years ago. 


The truth is, who really knows, but the game is great fun for all ages and can be played anywhere! 


Cornhole or Corn Toss is similar to horseshoes except you use wooden boxes called cornhole platforms and corn bags instead of horseshoes and metal stakes. Contestants take turns pitching their corn bags at the cornhole platform until a contestant reaches the score of 21 points. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. 


Scoring can be swift and the lead may change hands several times in a match before the winner is decided. 


The game is generally played tournament style with an individual or team being named the champion at the end of the tournament. 


Why play Cornhole / Corn Toss? 

The History Of Cornhole

The History of Cornhole


About 1325 in the fields surrounding villages in northern Bavaria, farmers gathered annually, to celebrate the return of the growing season, as spring burst out upon the
land typically, around May.


It was there, Matthias Kuepermann, a cabinet maker renowned for his carpentry skills, lived and peddled his wares. One fine May morning, Kuepermann was taking his daily stroll through the farm fields of corn and wheat, when he came upon a few young boys tossing stones back and forth trying to hit a hole that had been carefully dug in the ground, it seems, by a ground hog.


Unfortunately, in the short time he watched, Kuepermann noticed that the children were constantly, in danger of being hit by a flying rock, especially, the boys standing near the hole; (to collect the stones), were in the way of the “toss” and the boys were not very good with their aiming.


Eventually, Kuepermann returned to his home and contemplated a solution to make the game the boys were playing, much safer! The stones were obviously the problem,weighing about 1 Pfund, in Old German, or about 1.13 pounds.Realizing that 1 pound seemed to be about right for tossing just shy of 2 Ruthens (an Old German measurement of approximately 16 feet), Kuepermann decided to look around for something less dangerous to toss.


Corn, which was abundant and easy to grow across Europe; was a common commodity sold by weight, just like most other commodities. Weight scales became a common way to sell or barter most goods. Metals such as iron were mainly used for weaponry and were too rare to obtain for use as weights for scales. More commonly,corn was poured into cupped hands, then into burlap bags and tied. This was used as a unit of measure.


That measurement even today is approximately, 16 ounces or 1 pound. Pounds are still a unit of measure (commonly money) in a few countries today. Bags or (pounds) were placed on one side of the scale while the other commodity was placed on the other side,thus measuring the commodity for sale. Many 1 pound corn bags had to be used to weigh heavy commodities such as grain and flour which were sold in larger burlap bags. After a day at the market weighing and selling their goods, merchants would then have their help collect all the weighted bags and place them in wooden boxes with lids so the rodents wouldn't chew through the burlap to get to the corn.


Now back to Kuepermann.  Matthias recognized that these bags were just the item and set about constructing a box with a 6 inch hole that could be used as a goal. After showing
the game to the locals, Kuepermann was astounded by the interest in his concoction. Owing to the wood requirements, the unbridled popularity of the game resulted in the deforesting of much of middle Europe. Obviously, this caused great concern among woodworkers who were not cornhole friendly.


So, it came to pass that many noble merchants in wood products sought recourse from their lords and thereby resulted the Corn Laws of Britain, which, were first enacted in the 15th Century. Enforcing exorbitant tariffs on the import of corn and other grains, these laws caused a great uproar in the Cornhole Game trade; production of the bags of corn for tournament play became cost prohibitive. Soon thereafter, the game fell into oblivion and did not surface again until German emigrants to the new world, revived the game in the area of Cincinnati, Ohio, where corn was plentiful!


And, Now You Know... How Cornhole was started !!!


"Be A Blessing...
You Will Be Blessed!"


Bart Ebinger
aboutcornhole.com@gmail.com
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