[N26]

For a given chemical reaction there is a barrier to traverse in order to proceed from reactants to products. Reactants e.g. an organic base abstracting a proton can approach each other at different orientations - attack angles. At times, this orientation will lead to better orbital overlap between the lone pair on the base and the s orbital of the hydrogen. I have heard people talk about better orbital overlap, lowering/narrowing the barrier to reaction. Is this a valid way of conceptualizing this? Does better orbital overlap change the barrier? I personally have always associated a better overlap as starting further along the reaction coordinate/barrier, not the actual barrier itself being altered?