You mastered the flat bag, you hit the board all the time and just got done beating your Uncle Phil 21-0 at your family cookout and now you decide it's time to sign up for your first tournament. Maybe you have played in a few tourneys already and can't understand why you went 0-2 against players you know you are better than. Well, now its time to learn some Cornhole Strategy so you can start winning. Now, I know what you are thinking, Cornhole Strategy??? I don't need that. I will just throw all my bags in the hole! The simple fact is that you won't. Not even the most elite players in the world does. Ask any elite player and they will tell you that strategy is one of the most important aspects of the game at the next level.

Winning Strategies for Beginners

 The most important strategy for beginner players is, and you aren't going to like this, if the thought "I should airmail this!" comes into your mind, you made the wrong choice 99.8% of the time. I know that putting the bag on the board for a point or a wash, isn't as sexy as an airmail drag for 6 points. But unless you can go outside, set up your boards and throw 70 airmails out of 100 bags then the airmail is the wrong shot for you. Cornhole is a game to 21 and most of the time, just putting the bag on the board is the right choice. It is better to throw for the wash, than it is to miss the airmail and give up 3 points.  Strategy Examples  Lets get in to some examples and what I believe is the right strategy to employ for beginner players in order to start winning at cornhole.

Example 1) Red threw first and laid up the perfect block. As a beginner player your number one option is to double block ( throwing your bag right in front of the red one). It causes the player you are throwing against to make a decision. Is he/she content throwing for a wash or does he/she want to start throwing airmails? The risks are low for the double block. If you miss left or right, it is still 1-1. If the other player goes for an airmail and misses, you gave yourself a point. The best airmailers in the world are around 70% accurate. So even if you are playing elite talent, you still have a 30% chance of making a point. Most average players are under 50%.

Example 2) Red has one bag on and one off and you have one right in front of the hole. Your best option here would be a push shot, where you try to push both of your bags in the hole with a hard line drive type throw.  Again, this is a low risk shot. If you make it, you gave yourself +5 on the shot. If you miss it off the board, its even. An added bonus to the push shot is the replacement bag, where one bag goes in and leaves one bag in front of the hole. This forces your opponent to go for the airmail or giving up points on the round. 

 Example 3) Red has four bags around the hole and you have three. The best strategy here would be to just put your bag on the board and take the wash. The risks here are the lowest. You either wash or, if you miss the board completely, you only give up 1 point to your opponent and live for another round. What I see most beginner players do here is go for the airmail. This is the type of set up where even if you hit an almost perfect shot, things can go very wrong. You can hit the pile and your bag can bounce of the back of the board. 3 red bags could drop and none of yours. Trust me an airmail here is the wrong shot. I've made that mistake more times than I would like to admit.