A sportsperson to beat up with hesitation (6)
I believe the answer is:
golfer
'a sportsperson' is the definition.
(I know that golfer is a type of sportsperson)
'beat up with hesitation' is the wordplay.
'beat' becomes 'flog' (flogging is a kind of beating).
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'with hesitation' becomes 'er' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'flog' backwards is 'golf'.
'golf'+'er'='GOLFER'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for golfer that I've seen before include "Driver, chipper and putter" , "Swinger on course" , "Player with clubs and tees" , "Player on links" , "McGinley or Harrington, say" .)