I am sorry, but this is a complete nonsense. You should be ready to take over ANY TIME as PM. Scratching your balls as PM, wouldn't do the trick. Same goes for the rudder pedals.
Just don’t let me feel your feet on the pedals. If I can feel you on the pedals then I lose my feel of the aircraft. If you can’t be PM without putting your clogs on the pedals then just the fly it yourself.