The Basics and Rules

The first thing we learned when we were out on the court was how to serve. The main thing we focused on was hitting the front wall before without hitting any other wall and passing the service line on its way back. There aren't any tricks to this, except getting a feel for how the ball bounces back off the wall.
The proper way to serve the ball is to bounce it once and then swing the racket as though it were a golf club. (See diagram 2.1.) This takes practice to get your serve decent. We had to do ten good serves before we could learn anything else.
The next step is to learn to return the ball. You will need someone to serve it to you for this part. When returning the ball it may only bounce once before playing. To successfully return the ball, the ball must again hit the front wall, but this time the ball can bounce off of one other wall first, although this is not necessary. We practiced this in partners until we were comfortable with this.
The most important thing we learned was not the rules, but how to actually use the racket. To some people this may come naturally, but I had to work at this. Unlike tennis, the wrist is supposed to bend when swinging the racket.

Next post on 2/17: Practicing New Techniques