It doesn't matter if it's feet or hands. It's all the same. If it's forced you can be in time playing music, but you won't get far.
About a year ago I was pushing myself with singles and doubles on my practice pad at work. I was playing singles for about 1 minute at 280 bpm because I could play them clean at that speed for that amount of time. It was forced for me. I thought they felt good.... Nope
Right now I could probably go way beyond that speed and it would be nothing forced. And that is only because I learned technique(not mastered). Not sitting there building muscle. Learning proper technique at slow speeds build the right muscle give you the abilities (not muscling!). If your playing on a snare at blazing speeds with/without technique, I can hear the difference.
Its also easier to play fast with metal because it's one speed, one feeling, and one sided(linear). I could teach a guitar player to play metal drums. But!!! I cannot teach a guitar player to play music! Joking aside...
Anywho, there's a lot of flaws in the OP post. Not trying to nit pick. Just pointing that out. Everyone is learning all the time. If you say your not then you just cut off your playing level. When he said technique is not the be all end all for speed, that's when I know he hasn't learned it properly. It is the way to speed, but not music.
It's a tool to be able to play music without thinking about what your limbs are doing to a certain point. It's a state of mind and it basically is meditation. The slow down of time as we know it. Or it's actually that time doesn't exist and we only experience it.
