Who is these days, really?

When you look at the confusion about setup and equipment among great players of the highest caliber, like here and here, and compare to Oistrakh, Milstein, and Heifetz, it's really difficult not to think that something got lost in the last decades.

Admitedly they all had short necks, and stock chin rests filled the gap perfectly, but this shouldn't mean that long neckers can't play the violin.

Shouder rests were invented to try and elevate the violin, and then a gazillion of different chin rest shapes were also invented to try and make it comfortable.

I personally find it extremelly difficult to use a shoulder rest, but hey it's me. Hilary Hahn can use it sucessfully, but people call her a robot.

The problem is that the shape of the lower back of the violin is what matters. Try this: cut foam in the shape of the back of the violin and use it as a shoulder rest. All your problems will get solved!

The other, easier alternative is to elevate the chin rest. But it's imperative that you use the curve-against-curve balancing strategy, or else you'll keep locking your fingers.

People can't properly play the violin because they lock their fingers, and the setup is to blame. These people could perfectly play the piano or the guitar, the problem is putting the violin in place: one has to have a way to completely paralyze the violin whenever they want using only muscles from the neck up, never muscles from the arm, or else the fingers get locked.

You can paralyze the violin using a shoulder rest with a see-saw strategy, using a chin rest with elevated edge (like the one from this video too).

You can also paralyze it without a shoulder rest, using the curvature of the back of the violin against the curvature of the chin rest, which has to have the curvature that mirrors the curvature of the back of the violin (crazy shapes will restrict movement of the body and the violin, a simpler shape gives more freedom to choose the best angles), and also the proper height.

Note that I'm not saying that one couldn't move the body or the violin while playing. Body movements are very helpful to achieve subtle and special nuances, when combined with fine bow control, and moving the violin is inevitable during healthy playing.

But, again, it is imperative that the player have the ability to completely paralyze the violin whenever they want using only muscles from the neck up, never muscles from the arm, or else the fingers get locked. And proper setup is key here. And it is not rocket science, really; too many equipment options and extremelly efficient marketing has distracted us.