Originally Posted by: HaykEsaThanks guys, both of those were real helpful. I was also wondering, is alternate picking more in the wrist, or the joints in the thumb/index? I've been doing that alot lately, moving the pick up and down with only my thumb pushing up/down.

The shorter the movement, the faster you can get. So if you can do alternate picking using the joint closest to your pick, the less movement it's going to take. The less movement you'll make ... the faster you can become.

The trap you have to stay away from is that most people that try to go too fast end up putting a lot of stress on their elbow joint. They cramp up all the way to the elbow. Just watch out for that to avoid injury.