When you've tied the arbor knot, and it's about to go around the spool, it's going to "want" to curl in one direction or another. Make sure you place it so that it curls the same way that the line is going to go onto the spool, or you're doomed. Other than that, I've tried lots of different methods suggested by my friends, and then I hit upon a novel approach: Follow the directions in the box! Lay the spool down on one side, and start spooling, while keeping tension on the line. Once you've made about 10 cranks, pick up the spool and hold it up next to where you're holding it to keep tension. If you see the line twist one or two times, or not at all, you've got it on the right side, and should just continue on. If it twists a lot, lay it down on the opposite side, then spool the rest on. That has worked well for me. The only time I run into trouble is with light line and light artificial baits, and I think that has more to do with my technique, and maybe the quality of the line I've been buying, than with the way the line was spooled. Which raises another question. What line are you using?