Your spool tension is much more important than your brakes. Set the spool tension so that your lure will fall to the ground and not "over run" when you engage the reel. Set your brakes half way up and you'll be fine. Work the spool tension a little looser as you get more comfortable. The braid is fine, and preferred on my reels. Again, THE SPOOL TENSION KNOB is most important. If your spool tension is tight then you will not have any nasty back lashes.
When you do backlash, they can be hard to pick out but use a thin needle to dig the loops out. I use a pick set I bought at harbor freight very cheaply and it works nicely. I've picked many out... I don't backlash much anymore unless I make a bad cast and hit an overhead limb while bank fishing.
Also, thumb (or "feather" ) the spool especially if you think you've casted farther than you intended. The backlash comes from the spool continuing to rotate when the lure has losr momentum.. a trained thumb will prevent this.
Definitely fun to use, you'll have a few before you know it.