Skip ahead to THE PROBLEM: if you aren’t interested in my nonsensical backstory.
The CS student and the golf enthusiast in me have been debating the best way to address this idea I’ve had. On the one hand, a golf swing analyzer can be purchased for ~$150, a simulator for ~$500, or a round of golf for ~$40. Why am I paying so much money to enjoy and perfect something when I don’t have the skills or even tools to know why I’m not good at it? I should just make a swing analyzer and somehow hook it up to an old video game or something and analyze it from there. Ignoring all the technical down the road stuff, my plan is to make a simple “thing” that maps out the swing of a golf club.
THE PROBLEM: My knowledge of tiny computers is very limited and am unsure which products are necessary. I think I’ll need a 3-axis accelerometer, a re-chargable battery, a main board with Bluetooth capabilities, and a couple buttons and wires for connecting the board and accelerometer. I mostly just want to be able to send the data from the accelerometer to a separate computer that can run a special program and analyze data. To clarify, I’m looking for advice on what accelerometer, main board, battery, and wires, are good options as those are the what are new to me.
I don’t know if this is useful information, but I also know that the “thing” could experience an excess of 200g in a little over half a second.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I’d start simple and not worry about batteries, Bluetooth and buttons. Just an accelrometer and a controller for now just to see what kind of data you’re getting back. Once things are working well, then you can start complicating the setup with buttons and such. If things are too complex at the beginning, any debugging you do will be extremely difficult.
We have two accelerometers that might work for you. The first is the [ADXL377, it’s analog and tops out at 200g but should be simple to work with.
The second is the [H3LIS331DL, it’s digital and tops out at 400g. This one might be a bit trickier writing software for, but would likely give you smoother data than the ADXL377 and a controller like an Arduino alone.
And for a main board, you might consider something like an [Arduino Uno since they are easy to use and program.
I’d put the accelerometer wherever it needs to go and then run your power and data wires up to the Uno. You will probably want to put the Uno somewhere close to your hands so that you can connect a USB cable between the Uno and a computer without having to worry much about pulling the USB cable loose. Connecting wires between the accelerometer and Uno can be simple [24 gauge wire but be sure to solder them on the accelerometer end so they don’t come off.](Hook-Up Wire - Assortment (Stranded, 22 AWG) - PRT-11375 - SparkFun Electronics)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021)](SparkFun Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - H3LIS331DL - SEN-14480 - SparkFun Electronics)](SparkFun Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - KX134 (Qwiic) - SEN-17589 - SparkFun Electronics)
With the caveat that if I could exchange my golf scores for my bowling scores, I’d be a top-notch pro at both sports 
but I do have some knowledge of physics… so you might want to think about what I’m going to suggest:
As a later “enhancement”, you might consider including a gyro to detect when the user is twisting the club during the swing.