Let’s Get Sticky!!
The Case for Sticky Bags!
When I first started playing Cornhole Slide Rite was the big bag up in the Northeast. For the first 6 months I was playing the only bags I saw were either unmarked stick slick house bags provided by the venue or Slide Rite by AllCornhole. Sometimes it’s a great thing when your choices are limited and unlike today you don’t have 800 various bags to choose from. We threw Slide Rite and we loved it.
Eventually we started seeing Local bags up here and then soon the onslaught of Gamechangers and Go/Go bags started filling up the boards at league night. Personally I have always been a harder thrower who loves to toss the Airmail and I never found my safe space with a fast bag in my hands. That said I like to be flexible at Blind Draws so I have a lot of experience throwing slick bags with newer players.
Here is my gripe with the slick slick bags and new players…..it’s like running before you can walk. The slick slick bag is like high fructose corn syrup and once the new player gets their first toilet bowl 4 bagger they are hooked on the drug! The nature of a floppy slick bag is that it does not need to be perfectly flat and it will settle into the board without that kick you might see from a slide rite or 450. Initially I think that sounds great! Doesn’t it make sense that if the bag is more forgiving than it is a better experience for the player who doesn’t throw a flat bag yet? I don’t believe so.
Here is the thing- if you want to be a great Cornhole thrower you NEEEEED to throw a flat spinning bag which flies out of your hands like a UFO; super flat with strong rotation. 98% of the best players in the world have this type of release on their bag and due to the flat delivery they don’t experience the kick we see a newer player get. The reason it is important to throw stick bags is because it is like playing blades in golf. That bag will tell you what is happening with your throw and how your angle is coming into the board.
Newer players will gravitate towards the faster more forgiving bags but in that process they miss the important experience of wrestling their throw into submission. The hard kick on a suede or Pro Advantage bag tells you everything you need to know to adjust your delivery and create the muscle memory needed to get your bag flat and consistent. The reality though is that people fall in love with the bag spinning around the back of the hole and slipping in while forgetting about the 12 that screamed off the back!
Even if you only throw Vipers or GC’s my advice is to throw Suede when you practice as there are so many advantages to that experience. It brings in all types of strategy and new decisions for your game and will allow you to change bags in any tournament given your opponent or the board conditions.
So order yourself a set of Slide Rites or Local 450 and start leveling up your game!!!
Brendan
