What do you think is important to do in order to ENJOY coaching?

I guess I'm asking because I think I might need a break from it all and I'm not sure if I really enjoy it anymore

For me, I enjoy coaching the most when I don't feel pressure to win. The process of improvement and striving for that improvement is what's fun. When I put pressure on myself that we "need to win", it becomes less fun for me. That's just me. I think that might be partially why when you take a team that nody expects to win, and then exceed expectations, that can be a lot of fun.

I guess it's the teaching aspect, being around like minded people, and the environment that basketball can create.

I think if you enjoy teaching, and your enjoy the subject of basketball, that is key. Coaching is all about teaching. If you don't enjoy teaching, I'm not sure how you can enjoy coaching.

Agree on the teaching aspect, it's huge in coaching. With that comes a lot of challenges because not everyone on the team learns the same way. I like the creativity that comes with coaching, finding new drills, new ways to get my point across, new ways to celebrate sportsmanship, "borrowing" ideas from other coaches all to keep things fresh.

The relationships with the parents and players is right up there for me, if that isn't happening it can be a real drag. I don't want keep rehashing my coaching philosophy or have to explain my every move. Funky parents can be a real drain on a coach.

As for myself, I have a fulltime job that can be physically demanding, and I have practice three times a week plus one game per week. I don't feel like I'm in such great shape, so work and coaching takes a lot of energy. I often come exhausted and tired after work getting ready to coach for an hour or 90 minutes. I often feel that coaching can be stressful, especially in games. I know that making practice plans is important, and I did that at the beginning of the season, but I dropped it because I lacked the time and especially energy for it in between needing time to rest at home and having dinner. This season I also find myself having quite a challenge with the team I'm coaching and so far it's a losing season. I guess some of my stress during practices is that I am a perfectionist and big on details, there's tons of things I want to work on in practice and tons of things I want to tell my players in games/practices. It kinda wears me out and some of the important enjoyment of coaching might be lost. Not to mention that as a coach you have to talk a lot and perhaps shout a lot during games, and that can be exhausting. You also have to manage people, manage schedules etc etc.

I feel your pain, it's tough when you have a full-time job and basketball to coach. Couple of thoughts:

1) Do you have an assistant that could help with practice plans or in general?

2) Are there any other veteran coaches you could grab for an hour and get their input?