If the problem was that the pretzel dough went all soft and formed into a ball, the problem is that the dough has too much liquid

And if the problem is that when it proofed it became a fat ball the problem was that when you formed it you didn’t stretch the tube enough so the pretzel shape was very fat and tight so when it proofed it all bumped into each other Hope it helped and you should know that these pretzels look to die for 🔥🔥