Just don't have your arm up around head level...Its probably just safer to palm off.
What I often do when I "pick and drive", is I put my arm out as a kind of battering ram, kind of the way you're suggesting I think.
Actually what I would suggest is to "play to the referee". I'm guessing you have heard that saying?
If you think you can get away with it, do whatever you want until the referee pulls you up on it. Test the waters. Quite often its the only way to know if you can do it or not because each referee has their own interpretation on the laws of the game.