The invention relates to a method for changing the winding-off direction of reels (W,W1) which are delivered in succession by a delivery station (1) in order to form a reel group (WG) in which the front faces of adjacent reels (W) are equally spaced (a) and the longitudinal axes (LA) of the reels (W) are in a line. In practice, it is sometimes necessary to arrange the preparation machine for producing a reel (W) in such a way in relation to the combing machine group being used that the reels that are delivered by the preparation machine have a different winding-off direction in the ejected winding-off direction to that necessary for the subsequent combing machine. It is therefore necessary to rotate the reels (e.g. 90 or 180) while preserving the division of the reel group. To this end, the reels (w) that are delivered by the delivery station (1) (W) are gradually shifted crosswise to their direction of delivery by a receiving element (41, 42) of a rotating device (30), by which means they come to lie in a plane in which the longitudinal axis (LA) of the reel (W) lies, are rotated and can then be moved out of the area of the receiving element (42) in the direction of its longitudinal axis (LA).