I`m 24 and have been playing the violin for 4 years now but I reached a road block in my studies. When ever I put my first finger down on the string and then put down my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers, my 1st finger starts to angle backwards. If I try to correct it and keept my finger strait, my hand tend to curl up and it makes the top of my wrist ache. Is it just a case of stretching or is it something more serious?

Patrick,
You`re smart to ask for help now before you have further problems. See if you can find someone in your area (a good teacher ) to watch you play and see what`s happening with your fingers. It`s very important to keep your fingers close to the string so that you can play fast tunes.. and of course the more relaxed you are the less problems you`ll have with your wrist and any sort of pain. Best to find a good violinist/fiddler to give you an opinion.
K
http://www.folkfiddle.com

Thanks for the advice, I`ll ask around.

The good news with this is that after I warm up and practice for a while, the problem starts to get better. But it still concerns me. It`s a real odd problem that my current violin teacher never heard of before and I`m looking for people who have had, or encountered others who had, this same problem.

I forgot to add, I`ve also practiced some in 3rd position and this fingering problem in non-existant in that position. It`s rather quite baffeling and I can`t think of any other explination except for flexibility of my wrists and fingers in 1st position.