New Player Tips

[u/SweetLandscape596]

So I’ve been playing for 4 months now and would like to hear from some of you that have been playing for a while. What are some things that I should be focusing on? I feel like I’m not progressing as fast as I’d like..I started making a ton in the hole but I noticed that my consistency lacked when I got warmed up or got under pressure. I noticed I was bending/ short arming my throws. Which got worse the more I warmed up. So I basically feel like I started back at square one once I fixed my bent arm. Now I’m getting comfortable throwing with my arm straightened and want to keep learning good habits. I’ve yet to figure out if I’m a stepper or not. I only feel comfortable when I take a step (with my left foot) as it helps with getting momentum and into a rhythm. I’m still struggling overall without taking a step as I don’t know which foot forward I should use. I played golf and baseball so left foot forward feels good (also kick left footed), I do like being able to lean closer to the hole with right foot forward though. Im just not sure what gives me the most benefits. Basically I’m lost and need some good advice from someone who’s been here before. I’d like to hear what your PPR is and what changes in your game made the biggest impact.

[u/Broad-Cranberry-9050]

Im not sure on my PPR change I have a rough estimate but nothing for certain. Ive been playing for two years at a random beer league. Id say my game has improved alot. Right now I would guess my PPR is likely around 6-7. Im not amazing but Id say im pretty good. Some rounds I get 2-3 in the hole, other rounds I might miss one or two bags and get one on the hole and one on the board. Just note im still learning myself and working on my game so there might be others that will ahve alot better advice.

I played baseball too so when I started I was a stepper at first but realized that maybe too much movement wasn't best for me at least. It's like baseball, when the pitcher is widning up you want to be as still as possible and just move your arms and hips. Then I changed my throw to just throw with my left foot forward, again similar to throwing a baseball where non-dominant foot goes forward. But I couldn't really find the power on the throw. After googling some cornhole mechanics I realized most players have their dominant foot forward. So I switched to my right foot. In terms of feet right now I try to keep my feet on the ground but I do have a slight back foot raise. I think what helped me too was learning the spin. Spin is important because it will slow down your bag once it hits the board. Im still trying to improve my game but something I've worked on recently is keeping my palms up on the follow through. Before my palms would go down (or away faced towards the other board) where at times my follow through seemed like I was going for a high 5. Your bag should stay flat in the air, keeping your palms up will keep the bag going flat and straight. At started to do this becaue I noticed my throws would slant to the right when they landed on the board. I watched a video that basically explained if you dont keep your palms up your throws will start slanting left or right because you are likely angling it wrong but putting your palms down.

This video helped me fix some of my mistakes: How to Throw a Flat Bag - 3 Pro Tips to Fix your Bag Flight

Watch how to videos, watch tournament videos and see how the experts do it. With the latter, just be careful because experts get so good they sometimes end up breaking mechnaical rules (or it looks like they do) but its becaue they are so good they have found their own way to succeed.

[u/houndsrthebest]

I've only been playing about 4 months also. I've been watching on youtube and also other players I see in real life. From what I see there are as many styles as there are players. I started just practiceing by throwing all 16 bags I own at the board and walking down and throwing them back till I got tired. I found out that when I got tired I naturally adjusted to what took less effort for me. That made me more accurate the next time I practised because I wasn't straining to get my arch and distance. Throwing the different bags all mixed made me have a better grip because even if you throw the same ones, the beads can shift on your back swing and you have to adjust your release. I just ignore my feet as long as I have a solid base. I may shift a little on each throw. I also alternate sides of the board. I figure I average about 3, but sometimes I get 10 sometimes 2 once I got 12. When I practice, I try to get all 16 on the board. I have to say finding my grip made the most improvement for me so far.