Shea Serrano critques Keanu Connor O’Neill’s (Keanu Reeves’ character), motivational coaching techniques in Hardball for The Ringer. Overall, it is an interesting read. He provides this synopsis before he goes through the motivational step.
As a way to make money, he begins coaching a Little League baseball team. Predictably, he’s horrible when he begins. But as the movie moves forward, he gets better and better, smarter and smarter. His motivational tactics go from being nonexistent to almost unfathomably sly and effective. And then, at the end, he pulls off what has to be the most nuanced, most unflinchingly wily motivational tactic of the whole movie, and maybe even the history of organized sports.