Hello folks, this guy here seems to crosspick with a different mechanics:
watch the initial arpeggio at 0’:17’’.
It seems that there’s some swiping goin’ on, but If he’s using the elbow to pick, what’s the mechanic involved to achieve the pendulum trajectory?
He has a pronated forearm, so it seems to be 1003 mechanics, where he’s using the biceps to go the “3” and shoulder to go to “10”? Just guessing 
Hi! Yes, the initial example is different from the demonstrations, which are obviously wrist movement. As you are pointing out, the elbow joint is not capable of producing a fully escaped pickstroke. It simply does move that way - it just goes back and forth.
However combining elbow and wrist is common. Doc Watson played this way, and current great bluegrass players like Jake Workman do this also. Can’t really say what this player is doing without better video. Could be a similar combination, could be a little swiping as you are suggesting - again, need more camera to know.
Thanks Troy! What’s Doc’s mechanic in conjunction with elbow, deviation or flection/extension?
Almost every wrist movement you make with your wrist is blend of both axes, so there’s really no way to piece that apart. That’s why we came up with the clock analogy, to help illustrate this blended nature.
If you are working on these types of lines, try to not to worry about joint movements specifically. This is about assuming an arm position that is supinated or pronated with respect to the strings - in any amount - and then making the flattest movement you can for that arm position. That’s really it.
Just to add to this. ‘Mixing in’ the elbow to the x-picking motion seems to help me quite a bit with cleaner higher speed x-picking.
I’ve spent some time re-visiting the 4 different string xfers ( asc outside, desc outside, asc inside, desc inside), and tried to integrate a bit more of the elbow, and it has really improved things a lot.
Are u using the elbow for picking or for string tracking?
Mostly for tracking. But at high speeds, I find it tough to keep the picking motion going full-swing with just the wrist/fingers… so I start mixing in the elbow. It’s not something I intentionally did… it was kinda a hold-over from my pickslanting days.