@bobwill, my problem is nearly like yours excepting, I actually have no joint on that finger. I severed my finger at that joint 40+ years ago and when reattached there was no joint to work with, thus I have very little to no flexibility in that section of my finger. I only started learning to play about two years ago and have had great difficulty in forming several chords, B and F being two of them. I keep plugging away and scratch them out the best I can.