So you’ve been watching competitive cornhole on ESPN or YouTube and you decide you want to give this sport a try, but you have no idea where to start? This complete competitive cornhole guide is written by someone who was exactly where you are just weeks ago.

After playing in multiple competitive cornhole tournaments, I’ve learned what every beginner needs to know to start their competitive cornhole journey successfully. Whether you’re looking for local competitive cornhole leagues or major tournaments, this guide covers everything from finding events to mastering your PPR (points per round).

Types of Competitive Cornhole Tournaments and Leagues

Before you dive into competitive cornhole, understand the different event types:

Switcholio Tournaments
Perfect for beginners! These competitive cornhole events pair you with random partners, letting you try different bags and play styles.

ACL/ACO Tournaments
Sanctioned competitive cornhole events where you earn rankings and compete for cash prizes.

Local Competitive Cornhole Leagues
Weekly league play that helps you build skills and community connections.

Blind Draw Events
Similar to Switcholio but typically shorter competitive cornhole tournaments where partners are randomly drawn.

What is Competitive Cornhole?

Competitive cornhole is organized tournament play that follows official rules set by organizations like the American Cornhole League (ACL) and American Cornhole Organization (ACO). Unlike backyard cornhole, competitive cornhole features:

Regulation 27-foot board spacing
Sanctioned cornhole bags and boards
PPR (points per round) tracking and rankings
Skill-based divisions (beginner through advanced)
Cash prizes and championship tournaments
League play and national competitions

Whether you’re interested in local competitive cornhole leagues or aspiring to play professional cornhole on ESPN, understanding these fundamentals is essential for every competitive cornhole player.

Beginners Guide to Cornhole in 7 Steps

1. How to Find Competitive Cornhole Tournaments Near You

Scoreholio - The best app for competitive cornhole

The most important app for any cornhole player is Scoreholio. While there are clubs that still do things manually, most non-ACL tournaments and events are run through Scoreholio. The app uses your location, simply set the distance you’re willing to drive (25 mi, 50 mi, 100mi… ect) and it will show you what Competitive Cornhole events are coming up in your area. There are multiple types of events offered through Scoreholio but for new players I recommend only looking for Switcholio tournaments which allow you to play with different partners and possibly different bags. You will play 4 games with a random partner then be paired with someone for a double elimination tournament.

2. Choosing the Right Bags for Competitive Cornhole

You’re reading this blog on a website that sells bags so this is the part where I suggest a good beginner friendly competitive cornhole bag that just so happens to be available through CornholeAddicts.com, right?!? WRONG!!! While there are plenty of great quality bags at affordable prices through this site, blindly spending anywhere between $50-$300 (yes there are $300 bags… the secondary market is kind of crazy) is just irrational.

There are tons of different combinations of slow sides, fast sides and fill, so how do you know what works for you if you haven’t even thrown a bag yet? Go to a Switcholio and use your partners bags until you know what you like. Then come back to Cornhole Addicts and buy the bags that fit you.

3. Your First Competitive Cornhole Tournament: What to Expect

The hardest part for me was to go and go alone. No one wants to be the outcast standing by the wall while all the “cool kids” are having a good time, I get it. The easiest way to avoid feeling left out is to bring a friend who is also new but, for at least your first event, I would avoid that temptation. Going by yourself will force you to talk to the regulars and get to know them. The Competitive Cornhole community is very welcoming to new players. I showed up to my first event by myself and within 15 minutes, someone had loaned me a set of bags to warm up with.

4. Understanding Competitive Cornhole Etiquette and Community

I make it a point to tell every partner I get paired with and every person I’ve thrown against that I’m still new to this sport. Doing this helped to relieve my anxiety because everyone has responded with nothing but positivity. If you’re lucky, you’ll get paired with someone like Mr. CornholeAddicts himself, David Abate. To be honest, I felt bad. This guy runs a cornhole website so I was sure I wouldn’t live up to his expectations from a partner. To my surprise, he couldn’t have cared less and actually seemed excited play with the new guy.

One game we were down 15-6, David called a timeout and I’m thinking he has some secret plan to implement. NOPE, he just wanted to help calm me down and let me refocus. We ended up winning 22-16. If David hadn’t known I was new, he might not have tried to calm me down and we could’ve ended up losing that game.

5. Improving Your Competitive Cornhole Skills Through Questions

Just like any sport/game/hobby, people who are involved in Competitive Cornhole, LOVE to talk about cornhole. Have a question about bag speed? Ask it!! Have a question about your technique? Ask it!! Seriously, this community loves talking about this sport almost as much as they love playing it. I’ve learned so much just by asking questions. No question is a stupid question.

6. Setting Realistic PPR Goals for Competitive Cornhole

I know what your thinking, “but Kenny I dominate every picnic game.” Trust me, I get it, I was just like you… maybe you are a better player than me, I’m not here to argue that. I expected to throw a PPR (points per round) of somewhere between 7-8. At picnics I could throw between 8-10 all day while drinking, so I thought between 7-8 would be attainable. Well, it wasn’t, I got humbled very quickly and currently have a PPR of 5.22. Don’t give yourself the extra pressure of expecting to hit a certain number, but if you HAVE to have something to shoot for, I’d recommend trying for 3.5-5.5 PPR. After all, this is Competitive Cornhole, not backyard cornhole!

7. The Mindset for Competitive Cornhole Success

So you’ve downloaded Scoreholio and picked the event you want to go to. You even avoided buying those sweet Tie-Dye Fixations or Lime Green Blackened bags for only $50 from CornholeAddicts.com (plug plug). Now what?? Just show up to the event, pay your entry fee relax and most importantly HAVE FUN!! Let everyone know you are new to the game, ask questions, talk cornhole, throw as many different bags as you can, be yourself, lower your expectations and see what happens. There is no turning around now. The seed is planted and whether you know it or not, you are already addicted to Competitive Cornhole!

Did you find this article helpful? Or if you’re an experienced player did you enjoy the walk down memory lane? Would you be interested in a series of blogs with more in depth tips for beginners by a beginner? Let Cornhole Addicts know and I’d be happy to continue writing about my cornhole journey!!

Top 2 Things Every Beginner Needs

1. Cornhole Bags

Getting the right competitive cornhole bag in your hands is not as easy as it sounds. There are way too many options available so I recommend starting where many of us have started, with a slow suede bag!! We have a couple good options available here such as Addiction, Turtle and Slide-Rite to name a few. These bags will help you keep more bags on the board and help you learn the techniques of throwing as you work towards becoming a competitive cornhole player. You can also check out our full line of bags here