[12 piece bucket]

Cool! You're on the right track. Take the dowel up by bending your elbow. DO NOT COCK YOUR RIGHT WRIST. Bend it. Make sure that you "lay" the entire dowel on the bag. Don't just hit it with the tip. If you get the length of the dowel on the bag your alignments should be pretty good. Pound it and hold. Soak up the feel. Study Yoda's Right Forearm Flying Wedge posts and you are off to the races.