General Information & Rules of The Game
Updated 1/13/2025
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Rules of the Game
These are the rules of the Trilogy Cornhole Club substantially adopted from the official rules and regulations of the American Cornhole Association (ACA).
COURT LAYOUT
The court should consist of two cornhole boards, designated pitcher’s boxes, and foul lines.
PITCHER'S BOX
The pitcher’s box is the rectangle 4 feet by 3 feet at each end of the court, parallel with, and on both sides of the boards. Each player must remain in the pitcher’s box while pitching a cornhole bag.
FOUL LINES
Foul lines shall be defined as an imaginary line 24 feet between the front of each board. The foul line should be parallel to the front of the opposite board.
START OF THE GAME
PLAY OF THE GAME
We have included SINGLES PLAY, to accommodate any of our members who would like to play matches, outside of the designated league play of the Cornhole Club.
SINGLES OR DOUBLES PLAY**
Every match is broken down into innings of play. During an inning of play, each player must pitch all four of his/her bags. An inning is never completed until all players pitch all four of his/her bags.
Doubles Play - Team A competes against Team B; each team is comprised of two people.
Singles Play - Player A competes against Player B.
VALUE OF THE BAG
The approved method of scoring for the sport of cornhole is “cancellation” scoring. In cancellation scoring, the points of one player cancel out the points of their opponent. Using this method, only one player/team can score in each inning.
PITCHING ROTATION DURING THE GAME
POSITION OF PLAYERS DURING PITCHING
RAKING CORNHOLE BAGS
If the bags get piled inside the cornhole board, they could interfere with the game play by not allowing a bag to fall through the hole. To prevent this, a player may request a rake, where the bags that have fallen inside the cornhole board are removed.
Anytime four cornhole bags have entered the hole or you can visibly see the bags piled through the hole, a player can request a rake without being charged a time out.
It’s very important to do your best to not affect any cornhole bags on the playing surface when raking. If there are bags on the rim of the hole but they are not touching any of the bags piled on the inside, they should not be moved.
But if a bag is on the rim and touching the piled bags, it’s okay if the bag falls in when the bags are raked. In that case, the bag is considered a cornhole worth 3 points.
FOUL BAGS
The following are rule violations that must be spotted and called by a player or assigned judge. The penalty is to declare the bag a foul bag, which requires the bags to be removed from the court prior to resuming play. A foul bag is defined as:
A bag that leaves a player’s hand once the final forward swing of the delivery process has started shall count as a pitched bag.
A bag that is accidentally dropped by a player before the final forward swing has started shall not be considered foul and may be picked up and pitched.
Protests – If a player desires to make a protest, the protest shall be made to a judge or official (if available) at the time the problem occurs. The judge shall make the final ruling on all protests.
LENGTH OF THE GAME - TRADITIONAL: First Team To 21 or 30 Minutes
The game shall be played to twenty-one points or 30 minutes per game. The first player/team to reach (or exceed) that amount at the conclusion of an inning is the winner.
In the event a score of twenty-one points is not reached at the end of 30 minutes, the score for both teams will be recorded at that time.
In the event of a tie, teams will continue to play until the tie is broken.
MATCH SUSPENSION DUE TO RAIN
If there is light rain, the game should continue. If there is a weather alert, heavy rain or lightning, the captains should agree to cancel the remainder of the match, noting the scores and time remaining in the match.
The match must be rescheduled within seven days or both teams will forfeit the match, barring extraordinary circumstances. Play shall resume at the point at which the game was cancelled including the remaining time. To reschedule, contact the other captain regarding a time. Be sure to record your scores on a score sheet. Be sure to record the date as the original date of scheduled play.
RESCHEDULING A MATCH
In the event or a situation where a team cannot play a scheduled match, team captains will need to reschedule and complete the entire match within the 7 days prior to the next scheduled match or the team that requested the reschedule will forfeit the match. To reschedule, contact the other captain regarding a time. Be sure to record your scores on a score sheet. Be sure to record the date as the original date of scheduled play.
FORFEITS