Dr. Dish iC3 Shot Trainer review: the rebounder that returns the misses too

The verdict

What it is and who it is for

A black powder-coated steel frame that stands under the basket on wheels, carrying a net that rises 17 inches above the rim on all sides and funnels into a ramp. Any shot that hits the net or the rim drops into the ramp; the ramp is swiveled by hand through 180 degrees to roll the ball back toward the shooter's spot. Dr. Dish quotes “up to 800 shots per hour with two basketballs,” endorsements from AAU, PrepHoops and FIBA, and a one-year warranty on all parts, and sells it at $499.99 with free US-48 shipping and returns. It is for the high-school player, the serious middle-schooler, or the adult who treats the driveway as a gym. It is not for the family that shoots around on Saturdays.

The spec sheet

The good and the bad

Good. Misses returned; that is the whole product. The 17-inch net also does something the makers do not advertise: a shot that clears it has enough arc, and a line drive that catches the front of it did not, so the net is a passive arc trainer. It folds to a 22-by-22-inch footprint at 59 inches tall on its own wheels, which is a garage corner, not a garage bay. The warranty covers all parts. Bad. Thirty-five pounds hangs from the rim and board bracket; on a glass in-ground with a heavy breakaway rim that is nothing, on a light portable it is a lot. The 180-degree ramp is manual: you swivel it before moving to a new spot, and it returns to one spot, so partner drills around the arc mean somebody walks to the ramp. Five hundred dollars is the price of a good portable hoop. And one year is a short warranty for a net that lives outside; we would bring it in for winter.

Will it fit your hoop

Dr. Dish's page says it is designed for a wide variety of standard hoops and points to its support page for the rule; the rule as dealers state it is that the rim must have no crossbar behind it and the platform between backboard and rim must be under a set width. Escalade's heavy-weight, medium-weight and Silverback breakaway rims, Lifetime's Slam-It rims and Spalding's Arena Slam are standard single-ring breakaways; a double-ring rim (an option on Goalsetter) is the kind to check. Confirm on Dr. Dish's support page against your rim before you order, and use the free returns if you got it wrong.

Alternatives

The SKLZ Kick Out ($44.95, one-year warranty) clips to any rim in minutes and kicks made shots out a 360-degree chute; it weighs almost nothing and it does nothing for misses. The KATOP steel return ($149.95) is the same idea in steel, 17 lb, with rubber sleeves to protect the rim and a 180-degree rotating ramp; still makes only. For a driveway where the problem is the street rather than the reps, a yard guard is the better $300; yard guards and driveway nets. The full ranking is at best rebounders.

At the same $499, GRIND's Gx Shot Trainer is the iC3's newest direct rival and weighs 20 lb against the iC3's 35, with a published fit rule (a 10-foot goal, a backboard 44 inches or wider) where Dr. Dish defers to a support page. Above both of them sits Dr. Dish's own powered line: the Home3 passes the ball to programmed spots for $4,495. Best home shooting machines ranks the machines and the returns on one page, and Dr. Dish vs The Gun vs GRIND compares the three machine makers.