# Role Reversal and Retests > Broken resistance often becomes support, and broken support becomes resistance. Learn why role reversal happens, how to trade retests and when they fail. Source: https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/role-reversal-and-retests/ Track: Price Action · Level: Beginner · Updated: 2026-10-03 Publisher: TradeLabs AI (https://tradelabsai.com). Education, not financial advice. Cite as: TradeLabs Learn, "Role Reversal and Retests", https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/role-reversal-and-retests/ Role reversal, also called polarity, is the tendency for a broken resistance level to act as support afterwards, and for a broken support level to act as resistance. When price comes back to test a level it just broke, that move is called a **retest**. Retests are one of the most popular entries in price action because they offer a clear level, a tight stop and confirmation that the breakout was real. ## Why role reversal happens Consider a stock that has repeatedly failed at $50: - **Sellers at $50** were happy to sell there many times. When price breaks above, some of them are now short and losing; if price returns to $50, they buy to cover near breakeven. - **Buyers who missed the breakout** wait for a pullback to the level they saw break. - **Breakout buyers** may add to positions at the retest. Together, these orders can create demand right where supply used to be. *Figure: After the break, price returns to the old ceiling, which now acts as a floor.* ## Trading a retest 1. **Confirm the break:** a decisive close beyond the level, ideally with strong volume. See [Breakouts](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/breakouts/). 2. **Wait for the pullback** to the broken level. Do not chase the breakout candle. 3. **Look for a reaction** at the level: a rejection wick, a bullish engulfing candle or a lower timeframe shift back in the breakout direction. 4. **Enter with a stop** on the other side of the level, beyond the retest low (for a bullish retest). 5. **Target** the next resistance or a measured move. **Example: A bullish retest** A coin breaks above $3.20 resistance after three weeks in a range, closing at $3.42. Four days later it pulls back to $3.24 and forms a long lower wick, closing at $3.31. A trader buys at $3.32 with a stop at $3.12, risking $0.20, targeting $3.90, a move of $0.58 or nearly 3 times the risk. ## When retests fail Not every breakout is retested, and not every retest holds: - **No retest:** in strong moves, price may never return to the level. Traders waiting for a retest miss the trade. Some split their entry: part on the break, part on a retest. - **Retest fails:** price falls back through the level and closes inside the old range. This is a failed breakout, and it often leads to a sharp move the other way. See [Failed Breakouts and False Breaks](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/failed-breakouts/). - **Deep retest:** price slices through the level briefly before recovering. Using a zone rather than an exact line, and a stop with some room, helps. ## Acceptance vs rejection at retests The key question at a retest is whether the market accepts prices on the new side of the level or rejects them. Brief probes back through the level that are quickly rejected support the breakout. Extended trading back inside the old range suggests acceptance of lower prices and a failed breakout. See [Acceptance and Rejection](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/acceptance-and-rejection/). ## Role reversal on higher timeframes Role reversal is often most reliable on higher timeframes, where levels are watched by more traders. A broken weekly resistance that becomes support can define a trend for months. Major round numbers also commonly flip roles after decisive breaks. See [Psychological Levels](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/psychological-levels/). ## Common mistakes - **Treating any touch of the level as a valid entry** without a sign of reaction. - **Placing the stop exactly at the level,** where normal noise hits it. - **Ignoring a failed retest** and holding on in hope. - **Expecting every breakout to retest.** ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a retest in trading? A return of price to a level it recently broke, to test whether the level now acts in the opposite role. ### Why does resistance become support? Because traders who sold there, missed the breakout or want to add positions tend to buy when price returns to that level. ### Is it better to buy the breakout or the retest? Retests give better prices and tighter stops but sometimes never come. Breakouts guarantee participation but with worse prices. Some traders split entries between the two. Next, learn how to judge which levels matter most in [Level Strength and Clustering](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/level-strength-and-clustering/). ## Continue learning - Next lesson: [Level Strength and Clustering](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/level-strength-and-clustering/) - Previous lesson: [Psychological Levels](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/psychological-levels/) - Related: [Psychological Levels](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/psychological-levels/): Round numbers like $100 or Bitcoin at $100,000 attract orders and attention. Learn why psychological levels form, how price behaves there and how to trade them. - Related: [Support and Resistance](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/support-and-resistance/): Support is where buying tends to stop a fall; resistance is where selling tends to stop a rise. Learn to draw levels, judge their strength and trade them well. - Related: [Breakouts](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/breakouts/): A breakout is when price moves decisively beyond support, resistance or a pattern. Learn signs of a real breakout, entry methods, stops and how to avoid fakeouts. - Related: [Failed Breakouts and False Breaks](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/failed-breakouts/): A failed breakout is when price breaks a level then quickly returns. Learn why fakeouts happen, how to confirm them and how to trade the trapped traders' reversal. - Related: [Acceptance and Rejection](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/price-action/acceptance-and-rejection/): Acceptance is when price holds at new levels; rejection is when it quickly reverses. Learn how to read both with time, closes, wicks and volume to judge breakouts.