Let’s say you step up to the boards next to a player that you’ve never beaten. Or you’re faced with a shot you haven’t executed well many times. 

You might respond to your doubtful thoughts with a somewhat believable rendition of “I got this” and “I’m going to nail this shot”. But at the end of the day, if we don’t believe that with as much certainty as we believe the sun is going to come up tomorrow it won’t work very well.

And in order to hit tough shots or win tough matches we have to feel certain. And certainty is tough to come by if we don’t understand how we get it.

The common belief is that we just have to hit the boards and practice. Attend blind draws. Get our reps in. And all of this is absolutely true. 

But we also need to understand the cycle of certainty so we can be strategic in our choices for practicing and playing.

Here’s how it works:

First, we have to admit that we absolutely cannot fabricate certainty. Pretending will not work.

So our first step is commitment. I’ve met a lot of cornhole players and being committed to the sport is not an issue. The dedication to this sport is quite possibly the easiest part of this entire process. The only thing I want to add here is to remember that if you are learning a new shot, grip, stance, etc, be committed to the process. It’s going to look ugly for a while and that is normal and expected. If you don't give up, you will get it.

The next step is a bit trickier. It’s courage. It may sound silly to consider something like courage when it comes to cornhole but this is a mentality of “I am going to succeed no matter what”. Which means…

You are going to succeed even if you are down 17 points.

You are going to succeed even if you lose every game that weekend.

You are going to succeed even if it’s a tough match that you have no business winning based on past experiences.

And it requires a different definition of success.

If your definition of success is purely based on winning, you’re going to be in trouble.

Instead, base your definition of success on whatever you’re currently working on. If you’re working on airmails then success would be hitting more than you have in the past. If you’re working on staying calm, then success would be feeling centered even after bad shots.

In other words, your success metric should change as you continue to grow with the sport. Wins will come as a result of mastering many different things that are required for consistency. Identifying what your specific hangs ups are (mentally and physically) will give you a better goal for success that can evolve as you do.

Now here’s the really cool part… as you commit and show up with courage your capacity automatically increases. You start to believe in yourself more. You start to see wins based on the goals you set for yourself.

The more you “win” based on the steps you put in front of you the more your capacity grows. And the more your capacity grows, the more your confidence does. Which leads to certainty. 

Nobody can be certain they will win really. We can try and pretend we are certain but there are far too many variables at play that impact a win or a loss.

And we’ve all fell victim to the cornhole gods. Like when you throw the perfect shot and it doesn’t go in… or you throw a less-than-perfect shot and it does.

But you can be certain in all the pieces that create a very good chance of winning. 

You can be certain in your mindset because you’ve been working on it and seeing improvement. 

You can be certain in your airmails because you’ve committed to that shot and noticed your percentage increase. 

You can be certain in your grip because you’ve become unconscious in utilizing it consistently. 

But you cannot be certain the bag will go in the hole. So if you’re using that as your marker there is a good chance your certainty and confidence will waiver frequently. Which will decrease capacity. Which will require far more courage and commitment making the process a lot harder than it needs to be.

Choose something to build certainty around. And not winning matches.

Once you pick that thing commit to it. Have the courage to look stupid, to feel bad, to wonder if you can really do it. Watch your commitment and courage increase your capacity. And walk away with certainty in one more piece of your cornhole puzzle.

The players that win a lot have certainty in many things. Ability to throw down the center… ability to perform under pressure… ability to cut a bag… 

Your game depends on your ability to build certainty in many parts of your game. So pick one of those and get to work. Then move on to the next. And my advice… don’t forget about the mental pieces of your cornhole puzzle. It’s not just about throwing down the center.