Welcome aboard, Irishbiker.

The original SW yoke used potentiometers and centering springs -- like a 270 degree wheel, there is a physical center position and you get a specific output value determined by the angular position of the wheel.
A mouse (optical) interface works like a 360 degree steering wheel -- it does not have a physical center position and outputs relative commands telling the cursor to move left/right only when the wheel is turning.
Yes, some people do play SW using a trackball, but a trackball doesn't have hand-grips.
TL;DR version -- An optical interface is
NOT going to work for a SW yoke. Use pots.

Scott