cornhole glossary

ACL BRAND REFERENCES

• ACL is short for American Cornhole League. Please use the article "the" when using the ACL as a noun. 

ACL EVENT & TOURNAMENT NOMENCLATURE

• • An ACL event is the overarching occassion for cornhole tournaments. Example: The Memphis Signature Open is an event.

  • An ACL tournament is one of potentially many cornhole competition types within an event. Example: Pro Doubles within the Memphis Signature Open is a tournament.

  • Within an ACL tournament are ACL brackets that determine the flow of play. A tournament can include anywhere from 1 to 16 brackets.

  • An ACL Open is a national ACL event which includes many levels of amateur competition, but no Pro Tour tournaments.

  • An ACL Signature Open is a national ACL event which includes both amateur and Pro Tour tournaments.

NOTE: Nothing in this section should be capitalized unless it begins a sentence or is used as a proper noun (i.e. National Cornhole Day). 

• • Bag - 6x6 fabric filled with plastic resin or corn used to play cornhole

  • Board - 2x4 wooden playing surface slanted on an angle with a 6” hole used to play cornhole

  • Cornhole - the name of the game where players throw bags of resin or corn 27 feet to a slanted wooden board attempting to make the bag into a 6” hole on the board

  • Lane - a straight line on on side of a set of cornhole boards that includes pitcher’s boxes for each board that one player will throw from during a singles match, or one team will throw from during a doubles match

  • Pitch - also referred to as a throw, the act of a player delivering a cornhole bag through the air towards the cornhole board resting 27 feet away

  • Pitcher’s box - the area to the side of either side of the board where players can legally throw their bags during the game

  • Round - after each player or team throws four bags each that completes the round and the score for the game is updated

• • CPI: CPI stands for Cornhole Performance Index. It is a proprietary ACL statistic that uses numerous metrics to determine a player's skill level. For more, visit this page.

  • PPR: PPR stands for Points Per Round. 

  • DPR: DPR stands for Differential Per Round, and is determined by the difference in PPR between to competitors.

NOTE: Nothing in this section should be capitalized unless it begins a sentence. Only exception is AND1.

• Airmail - a cornhole shot where a player attempts to throw the bag into the hole without touching the cornhole board, similar to a “swish” in basketball

• Airmail drag - an airmail shot that also causes a bag sitting on the side of the hole to also fall into the hole. If 2 bags are dragged into the hole, the shot is called a 2-Bag Airmail Drag

• AND1 - an airmail shot that also makes contact with an opponents bag sitting on the edge of the hole and causes that bag to fall off the back of the board

• Bar of soap - a cornhole shot where a player throws a bag hard at an opponent’s bag that is sitting in front of the hole and the opponent’s bag is pushed over the hole either onto the back lip of the hole or possibly off the board entirely

• Block - a cornhole shot where a player attempts to throw a bag and land it in the center of the board preventing an opponent from sliding a bag into the hole

• Bully bag - a cornhole shot that pushes a bag in the center area of the board out of the way so that the opponent can no longer push that bag into the hole

• Bunch - where 3 or more bags pile up in front of or on top of the hole preventing any additional bags from being able to fall into the hole

• Collect - also referred to as a grab, a cornhole shot that is a variation of a push shot where a player throws a bag towards another bag already on the board that is off-center to the hole and uses the grip of the thrown bag to pull in the bag already sitting on the side or edge of the hole

• Cut - a cornhole shot where a player throws a bag with an angled trajectory causing it to immediately change direction in a sideways manner sliding up the board towards the hole. For a right-handed player, the bag would be angled so that the right side of the bag is down in the air and the bag cuts from right to left once hitting the board

• Dirty bag - a cornhole shot where a bag lands safely on the board while also knocking an opponents bag off the board

• Fade - a cornhole shot where a player throws a bag with an angled trajectory causing it to immediately change direction in a sideways manner sliding up the board towards the hole. For a right-handed player, the bag would be angled so that the left side of the bag is down in the air and the bag cuts from left to right once hitting the board

• Flop - a cornhole shot where a player lands a bag in front of another bag on the board and the forward momentum causes the thrown bag to then tumble over the stationary bag, landing beyond the stationary bag or on top of the stationary bag

• Get-around - also called a sneak-around, a cornhole shot where a player throws a slide shot that slides around a blocker bag sitting in the center of the board

• In the hole - also referred to as a cornhole, a cornhole shot where a player throws the bad and it travels through the hole on the board for a 3 point shot

• On the board - a cornhole shot where a player throws the bag and  it lands on the board for a 1 point shot

• Penguin - a cornhole shot where an opponent has a bag sitting in front of the hole and a player has a bag sitting directly in front of the opponent’s bag, further from the hole, and the next bag from the player is thrown in a manner in which the player’s thrown bag scoops up their own bag on the board over the opponent’s bag sitting in front of the hole, causing both of the player’s bags to go in the hole while leaving the opponent’s bag sitting in front of the hole

• Pinch - see “bunch”

• Push - a cornhole shot where players attempt to move a bag already on the board playing surface towards the hole to make it in, possibly alongside the bag that is thrown

• Replacement bag - a cornhole shot where a player pushes in a bag sitting in front of the hole into the hole, leaving the bag thrown sitting in front of the hole in the same location as the bag previously on the board

• Reverse cut - see “fade”

• Rodeo - a cornhole shot in which a player throws a bag so that it lands on top of one of their own bags in front of the hole and rides the bag up and into the hole, causing both bags to go in

• Roll - see “flop”

• Skunk - a game where one player or team defeats the other player or team by a score of 21-0

• Slide - a traditional cornhole shot where a player attempts to land their bag on the front half of the board and have the bag travel up the board

• Split - A cornhole shot where a player throws a bag in between two adjacent bags

• V-block - a specialized block shot where the blocker bag finishes its rotation on the board so that it has one corner pointing directly towards the front of the board, forming a “V” in the path of the opponent’s next bag throw, which becomes much more difficult to push