Is it possible that my fingers are simply too short for this chord? I mean, physically? it just does not seem possible for me.
I wouldnât have thought so. There is a guitarist on YT who notes that he has small hands (and I assume small fingers) who is excellent. Unfortunately this is just practice and following Justinâs lesson for body/hand position. Took me months to get this.
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sometimes i think i may be wishful thinking - oh, yes, THAT is why i canât play itâŚlol. UGH, its awful.
@Karende what kind of music are you playing? If you just want to strum an acoustic hand have fun playing sing-a-long type songs you really donât need to learn the full barre F chord.
All of the singer songwriters be fore the 80 all use the mini barre F and nobody ever said you playing that chord wrong. So try the mini barre F it worked just fine for Neil Young.
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OOOHHHHâŚnow i cannot wait to try this tonight - a small relief - thank you so much!
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Karen @Karende
As Rick @stitch says it is very useful as alternative to the barre chord. I havenât cracked the barre chord yet and using the mini barre on some songs I am learning.
Also F# is the same fingering one fret up, which I am also using.
Michael 
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Stitch - in response to your question, what kind of music am i playing? The answer is âpretty bad musicâ or âmusic attempted by a middle-aged woman that will never be heard by another set of ears EVERâ. 
Karen @Karende
Donât do yourself down, remember the âgreatsâ all started out as beginners
Michael 
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Iâm with Matt there Karen! Please donât get despondent, we have all been through / are going through the same struggles, whether that with F or any of countless techniques!
Youâre playing music, and thatâs a hell of a lot more than the majority of people in this world can do, so take pride with every step, youâre awesome for doing this! 
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We both play the same genre.
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I think its a highly underrated genre! lol
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Love this community!! Thank you for the encouragement!
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Also try it with 4 finger on A. Iâve been working on the full F for about four months and covering the big E is my current challenge. If Iâm in a hurry I can switch to this more easily.
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Adding another though to those of us struggling to normalize this. Most of us at this stage are probably tilting the guitar back a bit to see the fretboard more clearly. With the F chord this requires a big wrist twist and stretch to get the bar finger fully over, in line and up to cover big E. Iâve found that if I tilt the top of the guitar forward a bit (with my strumming arm thatâs stabilizing it) thereâs significantly less strain to get the fretting hand where it needs to be. Almost like moving the E down to meet the bar half way.
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Hopefully this works. 2 minute video of me doing F chord changes. Any and all help would be appreciated.
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Video worked, Michael. You are doing good work, keep doing what you are doing.
Perhaps when youâve made the F shape it might add to the drill to lift the fingers up from the strings maybe a centimeter and then re-place them for F again.
It may be just camera angle but looked like you have quite a bend at your left wrist. If that is the case you may want to explore posture, how you hold the guitar to try and get the hand and the forearm to be straighter. For example holding the guitar so the headstock is raised so the neck is not parallel to the floor but angled up to the headstock. As I say, may be an optical illusion, so ignore if not the case, otherwise perhaps experiment a little.
Thatâs the stuff Michael.
You are definitely on the right track practising moving from open/other chords. I struggle with that.
Having said that a +1 for Davidâs comment tooâŚ
I had difficulty getting your video to work Michael but got it going in the end. (on an iPhone).
Your F chord is taking shape. Well done.
I agree with David about the awkward wrist angle. Are you resting your arm on your leg? If you are, you must get rid of that habit.
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Thanks everyone. Iâll work on that wrist angle.
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I have read many posts and the trouble everyone seems to have starting out. I can honestly say I hate this chord. I have tried and tried to be consistent. I have tried the tips but my biggest challenge has been muscle memory. 75% of the time when doing it slowly I can get my fingers in the correct position. However, trying to concentrate on the index finger position makes my ring and little finger quiver and I slip off the High E and A strings. Practice make permanent but Iâm starting to fear I will never get this and must resort to Fmaj7 as the alternative. I wonât give up but very, very frustrating. Thanks for letting me vent. Enjoy all the posts. Stay strong.