Tapping

Hmmm... tapping is turning out to be a problem. I have no idea how to do it. How is it meant to be done? If I play slowly... like seriously slowly, then it turns out fine... but my middle finger hurts like hell after a while coz I tap so hard. How hard should I be tapping? what part of the finger... like with the tip or like on a 45 degree angle? and like should there be a sorta pull off with the tapping finger after tapping? Coz the moment I start speeding it up it just starts to sound bad (quiet and just basically sounds wrong). When I watch guys like Michael Romeo and the like... tapping... they make it seem like they just touch the string. But when i do that a very quiet sounds comes out. :?:

You don't have to majorly mash the string, but you do need to hit it solidly. I usually do it at a straight on 90 degree angle from the fretboard and right behind the fret. Just make sure you give the string a good pluck when you unfret.