The way you're describing is how I run, he wants the heel to hit first and roll through. I'm working to help some tendonitis issues so I see why he's doing what he's doing, but I don't have the muscles built up to keep my heel hitting first without just thudding the whole foot down at one time (which my back HATES). My other fear is that this won't really help the tendonitis. He keeps reaffirming that I'm not suffering with it now (I'm not) - but I'm also not able to run even a fraction of the distance where it usually starts to nag.

(His rationale seems to be based on "that's how all of the really fast guys run" - and it might be true, but I'll never be Ryan Hall anyway!)