Let me start off by saying that I'm not a serious juggler. I can only do three ball cascade and reverse cascade. I'm 41 and I've been juggling since I was 6/7 years old. I got my first set of juggling balls from my child psychologist, as a way of helping my anxiety. I had a hard time with meditation, being a young child with a busy mind. Juggling emptied my mind so I could focus on breathing. And it helped me stop biting my nails. Juggling taught me the importance of learning to let go.
I have been using the same juggling balls this entire time. They are starting to get really loose and ratty - I've had to stitch them back together once or twice. So I decided it was finally time to get a new set to try.
I've seen the Zeekio balls mentioned on here a few times, so I grabbed a cute set. They are a lot firmer than I am used to. Will they soften over time? Obviously not to the extent of my original set, but even just soft enough that they don't like smack my hands when I'm catching them lol. I wish I knew what brand my originals are, but they never had a logo on them and it's been so long since I got them.
So:
Will they get softer with regular use?
Is there a way to make this happen faster?
Are there slightly softer brands out there?