Cornhole Boards Slickness Test & Scale

[Steve King (Admin)]

How to perform a slide test on your boards.

The scale goes from 16-46" for brand new 100% duck cloth cornhole bags or from 18-48" for gently used (broken in) 100% duck cloth cornhole bags.   

2019 UPDATE:   THIS SLIDE TEST CAN BE USED WITH THE NEWER FASTER MATERIALS TOO AS SEEN IN Game Changers, All Slides and Ultra Viper Bags.  10 years ago a 100% duck cloth corn filled bag was the thing.  Then it migrated to a resin filled bag, then it migrated to a duck cloth on one side and microsuede on the other side bag with resin fill (a Fusion bag, my preference for a common house bag), then within the past couple years the slicker fabrics became the thing to have (materials like seen in game changers (my preference for a pro tournament bag), all slides and the new faster Ultra Viper bags.  

What you will need: 1 cornhole board, 1 cornhole bag and 1 measuring tape

This is how the test works:

Set up a cornhole board. Take your 100% duck cloth corn bag (or the duck cloth side of a Fusion stop-n-go bag) and put it at the very top left corner and pat the duck cloth side face down on the board with your palm so it is as flat as can be in the top left corner with no overhang. The back of the board is 12" high. Take a measuring tape and open it next to the top of the board to about 30" or so (you may need to extend it if it goes higher). Keep the tape at the back of the board as you slowly lift it. Ever so gently and slowly raise the back of the board from it's 12" at rest up the scale of the tape. If the new cornhole bag moves before 16" or the used bag moves before 18", then you have a major board problem. This slide before 16/18" can be caused from furniture polish which will RUIN cornhole boards.

For new bags the boards are slick if the bag moves from 16" to 26". They are semi-slick if they move from 26" to 36" and they are sticky if they move from 36" to 46". For broken in corn bags just add 2" to each of these figures. I have all three types of boards that I sell on my site. I personally can toss on a 16/18" slide board, but I'm a pro and love slide. Most newbies prefer a 26/28" semi-slide board. My wife prefers a 36/38" sticky board. To each their own.


Note: if you need to lessen your slide and the front of your boards are 3.5" or less in height, then you can add some rubber foot bumpers to the front of your board.  I'm not guaranteeing that this will help, but should lessen the slope somewhat.  Bumpers are available at Home Depot (see here) in the cabinet hardware isle. 7/8" wide x 1/2" tall screw in the middle bumpers.  Drill a pilot hole before screwing in.   See example pic of boards with foot bumpers installed right here


So once again, here is the scale:

NEW CORNHOLE BAGS:

If the bags move anywhere between a 12" and 14" lift, your boards have a MAJOR slickness problem and you really want to get some dual sided microfiber bags where both sides of the bags are microfiber (see #5 at the bottom of this thread as to where to purchase).   These are rarely made and most people buy Fusion bags where one side is duck and one side microfiber and just toss the microfiber side face down except for driving other bag purposes.   (see follow up post to this test below).  Remember, 12" is the board at rest and not lifted even one inch.   This is the worst case scenario and usually caused when someone applies furniture polish to boards, which is a big no no!    Some have atested to use "Simple Green" in the automotive section at the store to eliminate this problem, but I can't vouch for that.  

14-26" are slide boards, and a lot of people like that, especially pros.  You generally will see the the ACO boards in this range.   These boards are almost always coated with a protectant such as polycrylic or polyurethane.   If you don't want this slide, then read my follow up post below.    Double Sided Fusion Bags (Stop n Go, Slick n Stick) ARE highly recommended for these boards.  You do not want 100% duck cloth cornhole bags due to the slickness of the boards.  On the Fusion bags, pros would would generally only toss the duck cloth side facing down to use for driving other bag(s) into the hole or the opponents bag(s) off the board.   Buy the Fusion bags at www.STLCornhole.com

26-36" are semi-slick boards. These types of boards are recommended for the newbies.  You will generally see these boards with a semi-gloss painted exterior latex.   You can use either dual sided Fusion bags or 100% duck cloth bags on these boards.   Buy either at www.STLCornhole.com

36-46" are sticky boards.    Boards with this very low amount of slide is usually a result of a painted board top that uses a somewhat tacky type of paint, or a roughly sanded cornhole board top (i.e. plywood).   You generally don't find these conditions in boards that have been polycrylic'd or polyurethaned.   These conditions are generally undesirable for the seasoned cornhole platyer.  Double Sided Fusion Bags (Stop n Go, Slick n Stick) are NOT recommended for these boards.  ONLY stay with 100% duck cloth bags.   Buy them at www.STLCornhole.com


USED (BROKEN IN) CORNHOLE BAGS

If they bags move anywhere between a 12" and 18" lift, your boards have a slickness problem.

18-28" are slide boards, and a lot of people like that, especially pros.  You generally will see the ACO boards in this range.  These boards are almost always coated with a protectant such as polycrylic or polyurethane.  If you don't want this slide, then read my follow up post below.  Double Sided Fusion Bags (Stop n Go, Slick n Stick) ARE highly recommended for these boards.  You do not want 100% duck cloth cornhole bags due to the slickness of the boards.  On the Fusion bags, pros would would generally only toss the duck cloth side facing down to use for driving other bag(s) into the hole or the opponents bag(s) off the board.   Buy the Fusion bags at www.STLCornhole.com


28-38" are semi-slick boards. These types of boards are recommended for the newbies.  You will generally see these boards with a semi-gloss painted exterior latex.   You can use either dual sided Fusion bags or 100% duck cloth bags on these boards.   Buy either at www.STLCornhole.com


38-48" are sticky boards.    Boards with this very low amount of slide is usually a result of a painted board top that uses a somewhat tacky type of paint, or a roughly sanded cornhole board top (i.e. plywood).   You generally don't find these conditions in boards that have been polycrylic'd or polyurethaned.   These conditions are generally undesirable for the seasoned cornhole platyer.  Double Sided Fusion Bags (Stop n Go, Slick n Stick) are NOT recommended for these boards.  ONLY stay with 100% duck cloth bags.   Buy them at www.STLCornhole.com




This scale was created by Steve at www.STLCornhole.com to aid players in assessing their board slickness.

[Steve King (Admin)]

Tonight I further worked on the slickness scale to help those out who may be having a slickness problem on their boards and how they can remedy it. I had one customer ask me if the bag fill mattered on why their boards are being so slick? NO, being filled with corn or resin makes no noticeable difference in my opinion. It all has to do with 3 factors. What your boards are coated with and what your bags are MADE OF. Also, humidity can play a part. As for coating, lacquer, polycrylic, polyurethane and semi-gloss latex paints are the most popular. It seems that semi-gloss latex paints provide a general semi-slick surface, but i have seen some be more on the sticky side. Polycrylics and lacquers tend to be more on the slick side and polyurethane semi-slick also. These aren't always the case, buy at least hold the rule of thumb on many of the boards that I have.

So, how do you slow slick boards down? Well, a bag microfiber side will help you, but there are two types of microfiber and one is more sticky than the other. If you go to my website www.STLCornhole.com you will see that I sell both Fusion double sided resin bags and Next Generation double sided resin bags with a microfiber side. It seems that the gray microfiber I use on my Next Generation bags are very sticky. However, for you to make this stickiness side of the bag work for you, you need to be able to toss a pancake style bag where the bag lands on that microfiber side when it lands. If you toss a bag that flips end over end, then this will only work 50% of the time.

However, there still is hope if you can't toss a pancake.  We can get you a 100% microsuede bag (READ #5 BELOW)


A recent test was done. Here is the slickness of the bag material ranked, regardless of fill material, by using a brand new bag on a set of boards that fall into the slick scale range:


1)  Nylon/Polyester Type Material From China (By far slicker than Duck Cloth listed below).  Some sellers online get these in bulk from China and silk screen them with a logo.   These bags are low quality and super slick.   Avoid them at all costs.  Unfortunately, a lot of newbies don't know they are not real duck cloth until they get them and start researching bags online.  DO NOT BE FOOLED BY CHINESE MADE BAGS.   THEY JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MARKET.

2)   2019 UPDATE.  Many bag makers are coming out with cornhole bags that are slicker than the duck cloth of yesteryear.   Yep, it's 2019 and slick is now the in thing!   Cornhole bags these days like AllCornhole's Game Changers and All Slides are slick and Ultra's Viper bags have even a slicker side than the Game Changers and All Slides.   These bags are highly sought after by pros who have learned to adapt with the fast speed of the bags (as in yours truly .... me).   

3) Duck cloth (next slickest material, especially when brand new. When broken in, then you will get about 4" extra lift on the scale talked about above, but that's it. Common material used in all corn and resin bags).   For the seasoned player, these are the most common used bags, and for the pro player, this material on one side and microsuede on the other (see #4 below) make an AWESOME set of bags called Fusion bags.

4) 100% Leather (Slid before the colored microsuede but still a good material if you want to slow the bags down.   Hard to find.)

5) 2019 UPDATE:  FOR FAST BOARDS AND NEWBIES THAT NEED A SLOWER BAG:      Colored Microsuede/Microfiber (Slowest material, as used in www.STLCornhole.com Fusion bags Sticky side --- Bags Option #2 on the website).   If you know how to toss a pancake/frisbee toss, then these are the bags for you.  Use the microsuede side to slow the bag down and the duck/twill/canvas side to drive or push bags.   If you do not know how to toss a flat bag, then you probably need to either learn or get a cornhole bag made of 100% microsuede.   Though cornhole bags with microsuede on both sides aren't regularly marketed by manufacturers, I am able to get you those 100% microsuede resin cornhole bags if you want them, since I have a business associate that makes some of those nice bags in all microsuede in the color of your liking.   


Performing the slickness test with these material on a set of boards that I own that are a 16 on the slickness scale above has shown that the Next Generation bags sold at my sites www.STLCornhole.com and www.ResinBags.com are the best bags when it comes to a sticky side and for the newbie who can toss a pancake toss. In my opinion, the Fusion bags are the best when it comes to having a true slick side and a somewhat sticky side. 100% duck cloth bags are best on boards that are in the semi-slick range.

So, how do you slow the bags down? Well, boards are slick for the mere reasons of what they were coated with and the material landing on it is of a certain type. Most folks adapt by tossing more of an arch in their toss. You may be tossing a line drive, which would not help you much. So, to fix your problem, I would recommend that you get a set of the next generation bags and toss more of an arch. That should fix your problem. Tossing an arching pancake and getting some bags with a microfiber side will be your solution. Also, if you are a stepper when you toss, consider becoming a stander. I stand, toss a pancake with a slight arch and it works for me. However, I can control my toss where I prefer 100% duck cloth bags.

Oh, did I forget to say, a bag that is overfilled will also be a slickness factor due to less surface area on the board to cause friction to stop the bag. A bag should never be filled over 1 1/2" thick. My bags are on average 1 1/4" thick, which I deem perfect!


WANNA SEE SOME COOL BOARD CARRY CASES? IF SO, THEN CLICK HERE!

[Steve King (Admin)]

Do you have a Cornhole boards bounce problem? If so, read here:

tossinggames.proboards.com/thread/2872/boards-bounce-problem