Down to the short strokes prepositional phrase
In the final steps or approaching the end of a long process
It is getting down to the short strokes for selecting the women’s football team.
Our office upgrade project is down to the short strokes.
They are coming down to the short strokes of their funding.
To decide that something is completely finished so that you can start doing something else
To finish or complete something in a satisfactory way
To put an end to something
1. Used to refer to a point where a process or an activity ends
2. Used to refer to a point where someone no longer survives; death
Possibly an allusion to painting, in which a painter typically finishes a work with short, careful, finishing strokes of the paint brush, or to golf, in which a player concludes each hole by making short strokes with a putter.