Early signs of Watson hurting, impeding proper stroke (4)

I believe the answer is:

whip

'stroke' is the definition.
(whip is a kind of stroke)

'early signs of watson hurting impeding proper' is the wordplay.
'early signs of' says to take the initial letters (the earliest letters).
The first letters of 'watson hurting impeding proper' is 'WHIP'.

(Other definitions for whip that I've seen before include "Pudding" , "Party disciplinarian" , "Disciplinary object or official" , "Steal - something to hit people with" , "Flog - steal" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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