Are you talking about alternate picking (up-down-up-down, etc.) ?
I do a hybrid that some refer to as "efficiency" picking--I hit a note the direction my hand is travelling anyhow (I do most of my bends this way, some are down, some are up...). This seems to be even faster that flat-out alternate picking.
If you are trying to build right hand speed, sit and run through scales, but pick every note alternately. Or you can just run through finger exercises this way (like 1,2,3,4 on each string, picking d,u,d,u). Oh, some folks plant their pinky on the guitar to use as a "post" for their hand; I don't really do this though. I've also seen some dudes look like they dislocated their thumb on command, then they just RIP it up.
Hope that's what you meant.