Badminton Anyone?

After much deliberating on what to purchase for myself online through a rewards site that my employer gives to employees for varying reasons (mine being perfect attendance last quarter),

I chose as my gift a badminton set. Now, before I am ridiculed for picking a typified 'cheesy' gift such as that, I have to say that it is NOT as easy as it may seem. One of my coworkers at the hospital got me interested in the game; she and her husband pop up a badminton net in the Summer and regularly have all-out, fiercely competitive games in their backyard. She made it sound like fun. Michael and I decided to bring it out and pop it up in my back yard a couple of weeks ago, and we then proceeded to find out just exactly how coordinated and athletic one must be to play the game. Unlike other racquet games, a shuttlecock (not a ball) is struck and the shuttlecock is never allowed to touch the ground during volleying. On the official US Badminton website, they say that a shuttlecock can leave a racquet at the speed of 200mph. There wasn't anything close to the 3-digit range of speed in my back yard on the day that Michael and I played, but I can say that SEG-A came out the winner, not MJ. Anyone out there an avid badminton fan? Just thought I'd ask....