Hi Rich,

I am dealing with similar issues and am in a similar learning stage as you. I find melodies to be much easier than chord shapes right now but I'm really focusing on chords now and giving melodies a little bit of a break. I have a couple hand stretchers and strengtheners that are typcially found in music stores for musicians. I find that if I practice with those immediately before playing, it works up my strength. I'm also finding different finger exercises to play on my guitar with google searches. And I practice a LOT! The chord change drills on this site are very helpful too, which is what I'm doing now. I have been focusing on 3 in the last few days: Key of G, Key of D, and Key of Am. I'm also using a metronome when I play those.

So maybe some guitar exercises and finger exercises may be of benefit to you, too. Best of luck! Happy playing...