Really dumb baitcaster question

[09Z7SC]

I watched a few videos on youtube touching on those subjects. I understand the spool tension and I have that dialed in perfectly with the practice plug I currently have on the rod. However, I don't really understand the whole braking thing. In one video I watched the guy said if you're a newbie he suggested having 3-4 brakes on. So I have mine set to 4 brakes on at the moment. But I don't even understand what it does...

Those are centrifugal brakes. Some baitcasters have two sets of brakes, one is spring loaded/mechanical, the other is magnetic. There are some that use friction. What the brakes do is slow the spool down after the initial cast to take up for the lure slowing down after throwing it so the spool can catch up. They call it antibacklash. I would suggest, when new to baitcasters, to walk out the amount of line equal to the distance you will be casting, then take a piece of electrical tape and put it over the line on the spool. This way, if you do have an overrun as a result of incorrect brakes or spool tension, it will not backlash. There are some YouTube videos that will help get your brakes and spool tension set up correctly. Usually, the heavier the bait, the tighter the spool tension and less brakes, for lighter baits you want less spool tension and more brakes. The setting are trial and error. Different people will have theirs set different than others. Once you get good throwing a baitcaster, you'll wonder why you never tried using one before. The accuracy is amazing and the casting distance is nice too, plus no line twist!!

This biggest downside for me is using lighter baits, it is very hard to get the baitcaster dialed in. You still need to have some spinning reels.