A new method for determining the slow and rapid pressure-strain rate terms directly from wind-tunnel experiments has been developed with the aid of a newly developed theoretical description of the kinematics of homogeneous axisymmetric turbulence. Both the straining and the return-to-isotropy process of homogeneous axisymmetric turbulence are studied with the aim of improving Reynolds stress closures. Direct experimental determination of the different terms in the transport equation for the Reynolds stress tensor plays a major role in the validation and development of turbulence models. For the first time it is shown that the pressure{strain correlation can be determined with good accuracy without balancing it out from the Reynolds stress transport equation (and without measuring the pressure). Instead it is determined through evaluation of integrals containing second- and third-order two-point velocity correlations. All the terms in the Reynolds stress equations are measured directly and balance is achieved.