[Python] Given a contour outlining the edges of an 'S' shape in OpenCV/Python, what methods...

Given a contour outlining the edge of the letter S (in comic sans for example), how can I get a series of points along the spine of this letter in order to later represent this shape using lines, cubic spline or other curve-representing technique? I want to process and represent the shape using 30-40 points in Python/OpenCV.

Morphological skeletonization could help with this but the operation always seems to produce erroneous branches. Is there a better way to collapse the contour into just the 'S' shape of the letter?



In the example below you can see the erroneous 'serpent's tongue' like branches that are produced by morphological skeletonization. I don't know if it's fair to say they are erroneous if that's what the algorithm is supposed to be doing, but for me I would not like them to be there.



Below is the comic sans alphabet:



Another problem with skeletonization is that it is computationally expensive, but if you know a way of making it robust to forming 'serpent's tongue' like branches then I will give it a try.

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