1.Does that mean that I can use my hand to hit the ball? But only my racket hand? Does that mean that when you miss the ball with the racket, but actually hits it with a finger or something it's still a valid play? Does that tell me that it's illegal to hit the ball with my free hand?
Please, don't base your answers on the interpretation of that snippet alone, maybe there are variations of this rule on other countries, for instance.