How do you know it's flooded?

Is the starter shaft extremely hard to turn? When mine is flooded, the electric starter won't even crank it.

What I do when mine is flooded is to take the fuel line off of the carburetor, throttle fully cut, crank the starter shaft coupler with my fingers a few times, then try to spin it up with the starter motor. Repeat with fingers if necessary. After a few moments, it's unflooded and ready to go.

Others may have a better suggestion.

-Paul