Hit gently then hard: that's the way (4)
I believe the answer is:
path
'the way' is the definition.
(path is a kind of way)
'hit gently then hard' is the wordplay.
'hit gently' becomes 'pat' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'then' says to put letters next to each other.
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'pat'+'h'='PATH'
'that's' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for path that I've seen before include "Will's go" , "Pedestrian way" , "Track made by walking" , "Track, way for walkers" , "Skin on top of head" .)