Best Basketball Coaching Clipboards & Whiteboards
A comparison of basketball coaching clipboards and whiteboards — dry-erase clipboards, magnetic court boards, and double-sided options — and which one actually fits sideline use versus practice planning.
Dry-Erase Clipboards: The Sideline Standard
A basic dry-erase basketball clipboard — a court diagram printed or etched onto a clipboard surface, with a dry-erase marker attached — is the standard sideline tool for a reason: it's light, cheap, and fast to draw on and wipe clean between timeouts. Most print a full court on one side and a half court (or two half courts) on the other, letting a coach draw a full out-of-bounds play or a simple half-court adjustment depending on the situation. This is the right choice for game-day sideline use where speed and simplicity matter more than anything else.
Magnetic Coaching Boards: Better for Teaching, Not Sideline Speed
Magnetic boards use small magnetic pieces (shaped like players) that a coach moves around a printed court instead of drawing X's and O's freehand, which makes them noticeably better for slow, deliberate teaching moments — walking a team through a new play in practice, or breaking down defensive rotations step by step. They're heavier and slower to use than a dry-erase clipboard, which is exactly why most coaches keep a magnetic board for practice-room teaching and a dry-erase clipboard for the actual sideline.
Double-Sided and Full-Court Boards
Double-sided boards — full court on one face, half court on the other — solve the most common coaching complaint about single-court boards: not having enough room to show both ends of the floor for something like a full-court press break. They're a good middle-ground purchase for a coach who wants one board that handles both game situations and detailed practice teaching, at a modest size and weight increase over a basic single-court clipboard.
Size: Pocket-Sized vs. Full Clipboard
Small, pocket-sized dry-erase boards (roughly index-card size) are popular with youth and rec coaches who just need to sketch a quick out-of-bounds play, while full-size clipboards give enough drawing room for detailed sets, multiple options, and notes alongside the diagram. For any level above beginner rec ball, a full-size clipboard is worth the extra few inches of pocket space — a cramped pocket-sized board makes it hard to draw more than one or two player positions clearly.
Digital Coaching Boards: Worth It for Some Coaches
Digital coaching board apps (running on a tablet) let a coach save, animate, and replay plays instead of erasing them after every use, and some sync directly with team communication apps so players can review the exact play from their phone after practice. They cost more upfront (or run as a subscription) and add a screen to manage mid-game, which some coaches find distracting compared to a simple physical clipboard. They're most worth it for coaches who want to build and reuse a real playbook over a season rather than redrawing the same sets from memory every practice — which is exactly what SixSevenBall's own Play Designer is built for, free to start.
Gear mentioned in this guide
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Frequently asked questions
A full-size clipboard is worth it for any level above beginner recreational coaching, since a pocket-sized board only has room for one or two player positions before it gets cramped; pocket-sized boards are fine for coaches who only need to sketch quick out-of-bounds plays.
It depends on the use case — dry-erase clipboards are faster for sideline use during a game, while magnetic boards are better for slow, deliberate teaching in practice since players can be repositioned without erasing and redrawing.
A double-sided board with both a full court and a half court gives the most flexibility, since a half-court-only board can't show a full-court press break or inbounds play that uses the entire floor.
They're worth it for coaches who want to save, animate, and reuse plays across a season rather than redrawing the same sets every practice, but they cost more and add a screen to manage mid-game, which some coaches find less convenient than a simple physical clipboard.
Put it into practice
SixSevenBall gives you the drills, practice plans, and play designer to run everything in this guide — free to start.