Hey, there! Sorry for your frustrations with the C chord! I have a few thoughts that might help.

Originally Posted by: zollybosher

My hands are quite small and playing Yamaha F310

[/quote]

That Yamaha might be a relatively smaller acoustic. But the nut is 43mm wide & the neck profile is pretty standard. And that's pretty big for small hands. Have you tried playing an electric guitar? Most Strats & their inexpensive Squier version have 40mm or 41mm width nuts, & much smaller profile necks.

I'm not suggesting you buy another instrument to fix the problem! :) But I'm curious if you have tried another guitar at all? I'm willing to bet any electric might be easier for you to play. You might go to a local music shop & just try it as an experiment. Or if you have any friends or acquaintences with guitars.

Originally Posted by: zollybosher

[br]If I hold the guitar as you are “supposed” to by placing in knee and holding it into your body with your strumming hand I don’t feel as though I have control of it should I want to move my hand down the neck to say 6th fret ( spider fingers)

[/quote]

I'm not clear on everything you've tried posture & position wise. But I know that tilting the neck up & slightly away from your body can help. It can give your arm the space to form a natural curving arc. Also slightly angling the guitar face away from your torso until you find the optimal spot for your fingers to reach all the way around the neck to the string side is important.

Also, are you using a strap? Any amount that you are holding the guitar up with your hands or arms is going to hinder natural playing motion. The entire point behind a strap is to make sure that your palm, hands, arms & body are all free to play notes & not have double duty holding up the guitar, or holding it in place.

[quote=zollybosher]

I have identified the problem as such my ring finger collapses when trying to hold the string, so it plays the 3rd fret of the 5th string but falls down onto the 2nd fret 4th string.

So it sounds like you need to develop some strength & dexterity in your ring finger! I've got a couple of tutorials aimed at that problem. One is explicity to target the pinky, but it's just as effective to build the ring & all your fingers.

Building Pinky Strength & Dexterity

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1292

Trill Drills

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1829

[quote=zollybosher]

.... but the Guitar C chord is just not happening consistently and even if I can play it my finger collapses after a few bars as it’s not strong enough or comfortable enough for me to hold.

[br]Like I said maybe it’s just me almost had having enough

What style of music do you want to play? What kind of songs? I play mostly rock, blues & jazz. When I play those styles I rarely use the open C major chord shape. Almost never.

When I play a C major it's usually as a barre chord:

|-------------------------|

|-----5------------------|

|-----5------------------|

|-----5------------------|

|-----3------------------|

|-------------------------|

Or one of many partial barre triad shapes.

|----------------------8----|

|----5---------8------8----|

|----5--5-----9------9----|

|----5--5-----10----------|

|--------7------------------|

|----------------------------|

It's just not needed in those styles. And I play lots of C chords, just don't need that shape. When I play classical style, then I need that particular shape.

But if push comes to shove, it's possible to learn guitar & enjoy playing lots of songs without that chord shape.

Please try some of my suggestions above! Please ask more if necessary. Hope this helps! Best of success!