A Step in the Right Direction?
It’s time to bring back up one my favorite topics that charge up the masses: the STEP RULE! If Cornhole wants to become an even more mainstream sport (YES Cornhole is a sport) it needs to address the elephant on the broadcast THE STEP. Every other sport has a rule regarding this:
Darts: A player may throw a dart or darts from any point of the playing area as long as their foot stays behind the front edge of the throw line. If a player wishes to throw from a position on either side of the throw line, they must stay behind the line, which is an extension of the throw line.
Bowling: The foul line stretches from gutter to gutter, separating the approach from the lane. The line extends infinitely to either side as well as up and down. That is, if you finish your throw by stepping over the line on an adjacent lane, it's a foul.
Discus: The discus can only be thrown by an athlete when he or she will stand inside a circle which has a diameter of 2.5m. During the course of throw, the athletes are prohibited from touching the top of the rim. However, they can touch the inner part of the rim. An athlete cannot touch the ground beyond the circle.
And for our Players from the North…. Hockey: Offsides. A team is offside when any member of the attacking team precedes the puck over the defending team's blueline. The position of the player's skate — and not that of his stick — is the determining factor. If both skates are over the blueline before the puck, the player is offside.
Many a player is on a board somewhere working on a push or role bag and thy believe they need so much momentum that they need to cross over the line as they
release the bag. This has gotten out of hand recently due to players now throwing so hard they are crossing past the foul and center line of the board after release. But I do not blame any of the players they are playing within the system, what I mean by this is look at Nascar. The teams READ THE RULES in order to find the grey area and loopholes to work within their interpretation or understanding of the rule in question. The same in Cornhole you need to call over an official to dispute any perceived infractions, but most tournaments have what maybe 1 or 2 people that understand the rules enough to enforce or advise on the true meaning of said rule.
1. Gameplay
1. Proper pitching technique
1. A pitch is defined as one player throwing a cornhole bag towards the opposite board from which he or she is standing attempting to make the bag onto the board or into the hole.
1. A player is not necessarily required to attempt to contact the
board. He or she may voluntarily choose to earn zero points on a
pitch by pitching the bag intentionally off to the side or short of
the board.
2. A pitch of a cornhole bag may be underhand or overhand. When pitching a bag, players must release the bag before any part of the player’s body touches the ground on or beyond the foul line
3. Upon release of the bag during a pitch, a player must have at least part of one foot inside the pitcher’s box with contact to the ground and not across the foul line
1. No part of a player’s body, except for a hand or arm, may cross the midpoint of the board in the direction of the opposing player’s pitch box (i.e. a player may not straddle the board in order to attempt a shot)
2. Players may not step on the cornhole board while pitching a cornhole bag or after the follow through of a pitch. Penalty for this is the same as 4.a.v as outlined below
5. A player may not step on or beyond the foul line before the release of the bag during a pitch/throw
1. In the event of a player stepping over a line, an official can be called to the court by the opposing team. A director may also voluntarily officiate the game without a request from the opposing team.
2. Once the official is contacted, he or she will come watch the remainder of the match.
3. If the player steps over or on the foul line during this observation, the player will receive a warning from the official. An official may also voluntarily officiate a game at any time.
4. For every pitch from that point in the game onward that the player steps on or over the foul line, he or she will have the bag
corresponding to that pitch forfeited. In the event that an official’s first witnessed foot-foul violation is viewed to be intentional, the director can skip the warning and proceed straight to the penalty for violation.
1. A forfeited bag will be removed from the area of play during that round by the official with as little disturbance
to play as possible. 1. If the forfeited bag has already caused bags in play to move, the player or team opposing the player who pitched the forfeited bag decides to either (not both): 1. Have an official place the moved bags back in their original location as best as possible per instructions by both teams.
2. Accept the new bags’ locations and proceed through the remainder of the round.
2. Any scoring that is unavoidable when removing the bag from play will still count.
5. In the event that a player is utilizing a follow through step after the release of the bag over the foul line, the player must get back behind the foul line before their opponent’s next throw is
delivered. A failure to get back behind the foul line in time will result in the same penalty for a foot-foul violation. This rule will be officiated in the same manner as foot-foul violations with a
warning followed by immediate action by the director.
1. The opposing player may not throw their next bag until the
previous player’s bag has come to rest at the other end of
the board
I my FRIENDS am lost because this sounds like a guy in a cheap $3.00 suit that works in a plaza with a gas & sip and massage parlor. I do not speak lawyer so this seams very ambiguous, but I am just a VOICE in and around the hole.
To be fair here is the other leagues rule:
4.3 Pitching Cornhole Bags
Pitching
• Players alternate pitching bags (one player at a time) until each player has pitched all (4) of their bags.
• A player must pitch all (4) cornhole bags from their designated pitcher’s box. • Players must pitch the bag with an underhanded release.
• One foot must be completely within the pitcher’s box at the time of releasing the bag. • A player may not touch the ground on or beyond the foul line before their bag has contacted the board at the opposite end of the cornhole court. If a player crosses the foul line prematurely, it will be considered a foot foul.
4.4 Foot foul
A foot foul is called when a player’s foot touches the ground on or beyond the foul line before their bag has contacted the board at the opposite end of the cornhole court. Procedure and Penalties for foot fouls:
• If a foot foul is witnessed by the opponent, they must call a time-out and notify a Certified Official. The player will not be charged for the time-out.
• A Certified Official will report to the court to observe the game.
• The Certified Official will alert both players as why they have been called to the court, as a “warning.”
• If the Certified Official witnesses additional offences, penalties will be as follows: • 1st Strike: The player will receive a “1st Strike” and their bag will be declared a dead bag and removed from the playing surface. The non-offending player may choose to replace any affected bags as close to their original position as possible or leave them as they are. • 2nd Strike: The player will receive a “2nd Strike” and their bag will be declared a dead bag and removed from the playing surface. The non-offending player may choose to replace any affected bags as close to their original position as possible or leave them as they are. • 3rd Strike: The player forfeits their current match on the third offense.
NOTE: A Certified Official may also voluntarily officiate the game without a request from players
4.5 Accidental Release
• Any cornhole bag that leaves a player’s hand once the final step (if taken) and final forward swing of the delivery process has started, shall count as a pitched bag.
• A cornhole bag that is accidentally dropped by a player before the final step (if taken) and final forward swing has started, shall not be considered a foul bag and may be picked up and pitched.
Let know what you think about this topic in the comments below! Don’t be shy, because on this topic, you won’t change my mind…………………………..
-Don “The Voice”