A series of three shear panels with transverse reinforcing ratios ranging from 0.23 to 0.68% were tested to failure under reversed cyclic loading. All of the tests showed a reduction in strength of at least 20% with respect to predictions from reliable monotonic analyses. Extensive experimental results including strain distributions and cracking patterns were analyzed to explain this discrepancy, and it was determined that shear behavior under reversed cyclic conditions is not well captured by a single rotating crack model; rather, explicit consideration of both diagonal crack systems is required. This analysis has shown that the behavior can be rationally explained by considering the evolution of crack slip and crack closing hysteresis.