Backswing and Followthrough

[IanKeith]

I feel like I can't ever get my backswing to come far enough back. I think part of the problem is that I lack the arm and wrist strength to bring my arm to a 90 degree angle to the ground. This leaves my strike ball at 14mph or so on our lanes.

Is this a serious problem? I'm not a big guy at all (I weigh 125 pounds) but I'm throwing a 15-pound ball for my strike ball. Should I be swinging the ball farther back? I feel that when I do try to, it ruins the rest of my swing, and I can't control the ball any more. That, and I stop following through...

[BigDawg70]

There is a fairly easy solution. Start the ball higher. If you normally start with the ball waist high, try raising to chest high. Once you push the ball away just relax your arm and shoulder and let gravity do the work. If you are relaxed, your backswing should be as high as your starting position just like a pendulum.
Once you get the feel of a relaxed arm swing, really try to over exaggerate your follow through. When I start feeling like I'm not following through I try to touch my hand to the back of my shoulder like I am trying to pat myself on the back. This seems to help me accelerate through the release point and generate more ball speed, rotation etc.