let me start out with saying I'm not really into asking help, since most of the time it can be fixed with lot's of effort, time and the will not to give up

and here comes the but; I've been trying to train my downpicking speed for the last months and I don't seem to get anywhere. My wrist locks up after about five to ten seconds of playing faster downpicking riffs like Master of Puppets, my shoulder is tensing up and my steady rhythm is nowhere to be found, even if I start off right.

I've been trying to train my downpicking motion to be smaller, so it's more efficient and faster, but that makes it even worse.

my question is obvious I guess, how to train a steady tension-free downpicking technique? does it just involve playing with a metronome and increasing the speed as you go as long as it feels comfortable? or is it also about how you hold your pick? how you turn your wrist? how to position your arm?

and now for the funny reason I got so frustrated; look at this girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2IRyXzDOsA&feature=feedlik), I mean she's seriously shoving my dignity up my *censored* and she's 19 years old with 5 years of playing :p that makes you think, doesn't it ;)

thanks in advance for anyone who can give me advice on how to get my dignity back :D