Remember when partners used to give each other "high 5's?" Each partner's hand went above their heads and collided with the other partner's hand pretty hard. I would consider that action as "Hard Hands." Opposite of that is "soft hands." That would be where one partner holds their hand in front of them and the other partner still throws their hand at the fixed hand like knocking on a door.
 
Believe it or not, most shots at the net involve "soft hands" more than "hard hands." Think about what really happens in a game when you are at the net. The shots that you usually get are very hard, very low and soft or very wide. For all these shots you need a "soft hand." Let those balls come into your fixed racket. Do not throw your racket at the ball. Occasionally, you will get a ball at the net that is a shallow lob or a basic easy floater. Use "hard hands" on these shots.
 
Percentage wise, you will use "soft hands" 80% of the time and "hard hands" 20% of the time. So, when you take your racket out of your bag to play, take your "soft hands" out too. They will be more valuable to you in the long run than your "hard hands."
 
Good luck on the courts!