Hello a_l_o,
Use Directional Deformation instead of Total Deformation and select an appropriate direction. Below is the plot of the Y Axis deformation vs Time for a single node.

Below is the mesh whose Directional Deformation was requested above.

The node that was selected was the one just inboard from the tip of the beam.
If the beam I showed was at an angle to the global coordinate axes, I could make a local coordinate axis to output the deformation in.
I don't see why you would want a path. Please explain.