Previous research demonstrated that walking at height is associated with state anxiety, unsteadiness and dizziness in many individuals. In a sports context, walking on a balance beam poses a challenge to many inexperienced individuals. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the control of body balance during beam walking as a function of state anxiety resulting from a height exposure as well as gymnastic experience. Sway several body segments and the heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in 25 young female participants. They were instructed to walk with comfortable speed across a balance beam under several different levels of difficulty levels (flat foot vs. walking on toes; walking forwards vs. backwards; low vs. high beam). Surprisingly, the experienced participants showed the greatest amount of sway as well as lower HRV, which might indicate a more severely stressed emotional state. This effect might be caused by their higher gait speed or by the effects of performing under social pressure (being observed by onlookers).
