How should I break in my new footbag so it stalls easily?

The answer to this question depends on which type of footbag you bought. We have not tested a lot of different brands, but, in general, the best way to break in a footbag is to knead it in your hands and kick with it a lot until it becomes softer and easier to control. It seems to be a general rule of thumb that footbags have a specific life-span; during their early days they are usually too hard and "fiery"; as they grow into maturity they become "perfect"; and then, eventually, they die of old age (they either get a hole in them and lose their filling, or just become unplayable for some other reason). Patience is a virtue with a new bag.

For bags made of "facile" (a type of synthetic material common for many freestyle footbags), it's advisable to treat them gently, knead them in your hands, and wash them a couple of times with mild non-abrasive soap (don't wring them too hard or you'll stretch the fabric) in tepid or cold water. Usually this will make them much more "stallable" if that's what you are looking for.

We do not recommend the procedure we've heard about of people parking their cars on their footbags to break them in. This generally damages the footbags. Instead, we recommend that you not buy a footbag that is so hard you'd be compelled to want to try such a thing in the first place. Most footbags sold today are soft and playable right out of the package. Just knead the bag a little with your hands and you should be good to go.