repeating licks

I've been brushing up on my shredding lately (or, in my case, lack thereof) by practicing legato hammer on/pull offs in terms of some of the repeating blues licks that we see all the time. I'm not one of those players who's all about speed, but I'd like to master some quick legato repeating lines to help tread water when improvising

e-----5-------------
b--------8p5-------
g--------------7----

b-----8p5p0----------------
g--------------8 (or7)--------

b------5h8p5p0------------------------
g-----------------7b8--------------

All these licks are basically the same, with small variations thrown in. They just repeat endlessly and can sound pretty cool. I hear lots of guys who've been playing a lot less longer than I have just cruise on stuff like this....their legato almost sounds like they're tapping (which is not the case, I checked :D )

I know its a lot of practice, but efficiency of movement is especially important on stuff like this, especially for a hack like me. How would you pick this stuff: alternate or sweep? I prefer alternate, but I've never been one to sweep and this might seem like a good opportunity. Its harder to do now, but does this seem like a good spot to use it? I'm also having trouble pulling off onto an open string: I can't seem to get proper leverage and when I do the strings ring out, even though I try to mute them. Essentially, I'm a mess :wink: jk

People always say to play how you feel, which I do. But on lots of stuff the way which is harder at first seems to be better off in the long run.
M