Cornhole can be a casual game played in the backyard as players hold a hamburger or beverage in one hand and a beanbag in the other. But for Anthony Ayon, a Colorado-based engineer, professional cornhole player, commentator, and YouTube personality, the game is about "friction and strategy and decision-making scenarios."
That strategy comes into play when a competitor's shots miss the hole and stick on the board. Players then can use friction and a bit of technique to get over any bags in their way, or even roll right over them.
Ayon has identified about a dozen different shot types that pro players use, and he's applied his own physics knowledge to explain how they work. That's why he's called the "professor" of this growing game.
During a professional game of cornhole, players throw bean bags that are six square inches and weigh one pound at one of two sloped boards, each two feet wide and four feet long, placed 27 feet apart. The center of the six-inch diameter hole is nine inches from the top of the board.
Each round (or frame) includes four throws by each player. Bags that drop into the hole count for 3 points. Bags on the board at the end of the round count for 1 point-unless the bag is hanging over the board and touching the ground, in which case it'll earn you 0 points. Games are played to 21, using what's called "cancellation scoring." The lower score is subtracted from the top score, so that if one player scores 10 points on a round and the other makes 7, the leader makes 3 points for the frame.
Ayon says that there are pros who use just two shots. The first is the "airmail," a term for bulls-eyeing the bag so it drops straight into the hole. The best players make that shot about 70 percent of the time, Ayon says. Then there's the slightly-more-forgiving technique, called a slider, that lands the bag low on the board so it scoots along the surface before dropping into the hole. Top players can make about 90 percent of those throws when there are no obstacles, Ayon says.
Numerous other shots are used to get around or over other bags left on the board; he calls the bags left behind, cluttering the board, "laundry." Some players use a defensive strategy to create obstacles on purpose.
Each beanbag has two different fabrics on either side, called "sticky" and "slick." The sticky side creates more friction, which helps players create more movement. If a player lands one sticky-side edge of the bag onto the board, it provides some resistance, which helps the bag rotate and curve around obstacles on the board.
"With this sticky side you're really able to make the bag do magic on the board," Ayon says.
That magic comes down to throwing the bag, usually with spin like a frisbee, with enough control so that you can make it land on the board in the orientation you desire. You can throw it so the left edge lands down with the right side up, or vice versa, or even front edge down. Each setup causes the bag to react in different ways, such as cutting or curling around other bags.
"The bag always cuts to the high side," Ayon explains. Due to friction, the free end of the bag moves more than the low side of the bag that drags on the board, causing it to curve. "Skilled baggers are able to throw these bags in the tilted conditions. And they're just going around stuff to ultimately get to the hole."
A bag that lands flat on the board can even hop over other bags, or you can help it roll over by landing the bag with the trailing edge low. That's done by rotating the hand and forearm during the release so that the pinky finger is the highest part of the hand. It's a technique that Ayon calls "turning the doorknob." When that kind of throw lands, the front edge slams onto the board and the bag starts rolling end-over-end.
Another shot, called "the penguin" scores two bags with one shot by sending out a fast-moving bag that lands hard on the board, scooping up a bag of yours that's stuck behind a competitor's, and rolling both of the thrower's bags over the opponent's bag, scoring twice and leaving that pesky block on the board. You can watch Ayon's full description of the move below:
Players must also account for the humidity, which makes the beanbags stickier by increasing the friction between the bag and the board. On a very dry day, the boards can be slippery like ice, prompting players to use stickier and slower bags, Ayon says. "I 'm trying to maintain the same play speed by changing my bag choice."
Ayon says the greatest player of all time, Matt Guy, only throws two shots-sliding the slick side into the hole and an airmail-so you can absolutely be successful while keeping it simple. But when those two-shot players face defensive-minded players, that's a recipe for a culture clash. A well-placed block takes the slider shot out of play, leaving the two-shot pros with only the lower probability airmail shot.
"The younger generation, they live and die by this complex game of cuts and rolls," Ayon says.
Even as cornhole has grown from backyard game to reaching cable TV and higher levels of prize and sponsorship revenue, Ayon says he was never tempted to keep the science behind these shots to himself.
"For me it was about helping the game grow. Because if the game grows and you're a part of the game, you're going to grow with it."