Iain wrote:my abshire took a long time to break in. If ur bag is rolling then its not fully broken in. When you go out for ur session, just do kicks with ur abshire for about 30 min. Then do ur freestyle with a sandman. It will break in.
HooD wrote:2 weeks is long enough to have a well broken in bag...only if you spend every spare moment breaking it in by rubbing it in. So don't bash someone's hard work quite yet, you need to learn how to break bags in... Carry that thing around with you all the time, and when your hands are free, rub it and try to make it softer to play with. I've broken in bags within a weekend, but some bags just take a little more time than others. If you keep playing with your sandman because it stalls better, the other bag won't just magically break in over time, you need to kick it also so when it gets pretty dirty, give it a good wash and it should really loosen it up.
Also, if you're not that experienced, more than likely your form on osis and other basics aren't that good yet. I understand your pain because playing with rolly bags do make you less consistant, but give it time and effort, that bag will be prime.
C-Fan wrote:Freedom bags are great to learn the basics. I highly recommend them for people starting out from the very basics, to basic guiltless. Once you get to open level, you may find stitched bags a better fit to your game.
Are you a high-level guiltless player yet? If not, maybe its too early for you to use stitched footbags. Stitched footbags can be less forgiving of mistakes (less stall friendly) but they often set "truer" (because they are rounder). For beginners/low intermediates, the advantages of a stitched bags aren`t really apparent, and therefore they can be discouraging. For higher level players (who have really mastered stalling), they don`t need the extra stallability of sandbags, and likely are trying moves which require perfect sets (spins, multiple dex sets, etc) which are easier to do with stitched bags.
As others have pointed out, its also possible your bag hasn`t broken in yet. That can be really frustrating with stitched bags... I also am very impatient with that. Just know that once it does break in, it could be a very good bag. Its also possible that it will never break in totally. I`ve met bags like that. I think its most likely however, that even when it does break in, you may find it too rolly for you at your current level, but your future-pro-self would love it.
Good luck with the break in, but always remember its about having fun. If your freedom bag works better for you now, use that. Your abshire won`t decay or anything... maybe you will find your abshire to be a perfect fit for you in a couple years.
Tsiangkun wrote:*slap*
Just warm up with the abshire and then shred with your sand bag. The stitched bag will take a while to break in, and it's not really worth it to rush the break in process. You will only wear out the fabric, while the stitching will still be tight.
Outsider wrote:Freestyle tricks aren't learned and mastered overnight. Good freestyle bags don't break in overnight. Learn some patience.
Further, its different strokes for different folks. Some people prefer sand, some prefer larger stitched bags, some prefer smaller stitched bags. Over time you'll own many bags, some that you prefer more than others. Maybe the Abshire Mini just isn't for you. But a couple of weeks is probably not enough time to make that judgement yet (, especially for newer players).
Anyway, as Tsiangkun suggested, don't trash your bag just because you're in a hurry to get it broken in. Richie's bags are worth the investment of money, and just as important is that they are worth the investment of time. Don't rush. Haste makes waste.
footjoe wrote:put away your sandbag and dont use it until you dont have roll off with the mini , that will work your form
Tsiangkun again wrote:Yep, it's just not broken in yet. Have a little bit of patience.
Some bags take months to break in, and you really can't rush the process without destroying the bag. It's professional equipment, and it will be choice if you let it break in.
It feel broke in because you have your hands on an A 910. There is much less fabric in the seams than a standard 32 panel, and it gives a great squishy feeling right away. Doesn't matter, it's the stitching that has to break in for a bag to be shred ready.
Toby wrote:From what i've heard and understood, an abshire MINI isn't suitable for someone who just switched from sand bags. A mini is a training bag. You use it to train speed and form. you won't have either of those after using a sand bag and so a mini will be very hard to use for you.
TheVindicator wrote:Have you tried contacting Richard Abshire concerning the bag yet?
BalinorNZ wrote:Fred, if you really want to know if your bag has a problem, why not post a picture of it here on the forum? I woud also recoment weighing it, that way you can see if it's too full, it should be around 40 grams.
You have to realise though, abshire bags (especially minis) take probably 2weeks to a month of constant finger rolling and washing every day after kicking with it to get close to as stallable as a sand man, but when it finally does break in, it will be the most predictable bag u have ever played with
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quadgun wrote:I got my abshire in december of 04 ... and i dubbed it choice in june of 05 ... and i retired it september of 05 (like 3 weeks ago)
That right there was 6-7 months of break in time, for 3 months of playing time. Well worth the wait for me.
Just start every session by kicking/wamring up with your abshire. It just takes time, that's why it's always good to be breaking in a bag and have one choice bag.
Jeremy wrote:On the subject at hand - I have played with a few different mini abshires and I found them all to be very very very sweet and generally awesome. Yes they were rolly to begin with - but actually because I'd been playing with sand bags for pretty much my entire serious footbag career up till then - I found this a great opportunity to really improve on my stalling technique and I played with bags pretty much straight away - which meant my game went down for a while but the improvement after that was very considerable. I doubt I would have been able to hit pixie ducking symp mirage with half a mushroom had I not done that "stall training"
So my opinion is "abshire mini's rock" - although I can't say I've ever played with a 32 panel facile bag that I didn't think rocked either.
Obviously - I'm making my own conclusions now -
your bag isn't broken in. It can be really frustrating with the breaking the bag in and still a 32 can be a really "rolly". I've played enough to know that.
Besides I know that Ken, Jonathan, Jeremy, John, Nic, Joe, Iain and others have played enough to know that too, and at least I'd trust them with this.
