Stroke to perplex complete clinician at the outset (3-6)

I believe the answer is:

dog-paddle

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'stroke' is the definition.
(dog paddle is a kind of stroke)

'perplex complete clinician at the outset' is the wordplay.
'perplex' becomes 'addle' (I've seen this in another clue).
'complete' becomes 'do' (doing is a kind of completing).
'clinician' becomes 'gp' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'at the outset' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'do'+'gp'='dogp'
'addle' after 'dogp' is 'DOG-PADDLE'.

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.