Way

 

Ending June with this hilarious feature from one of Jackson's official social media pages - just look at which way those strings were wound round the posts. 

Pic: Jacksonfb

Not the way

This is the wrong way to wind the strings round your instrument's machine heads (left). In many cases, strings were designed to have a straight travel to the posts so they sit parallel in the nut slots to supplement tuning stability. Anything sitting in a slant in the slots will experience more resistance upon tuning & affects responsiveness- one of the reason why the Les Paul's G & D strings are the most stubborn in this aspect. Also, if you continue to wind the wrong way & your nut material is not up to it (especially for basses), expect cracks in time to come.