How to Catch a Fly in Your Hand
One of the benefits of living in a desert climate is that you don’t necessarily need air conditioning – evaporative cooling will help in many cases. Since so-called swamp coolers work best with good air circulation, we can leave our windows (and sometimes doors) cracked all summer long. Back side? Flies are buzzing around. Constantly.
Flies are notoriously hard to swat, which seems to be due to the fact that they are actually programmed to respond quickly to the threat of human death. They have a very well-controlled aerodynamic flight pattern and can accelerate to full speed in 1 / 50th a blink (seriously).
So what to do?
Redditor u / Wormy013 suggests instead of catching your eye right away , clap right over it. The fly will react to the movement of your hands and fly up between them. You can also move your arms in an upward arc (rather than straight out of the side) when you clap.
At the next level, fly catching can be done with one hand. The same principle applies: you need to aim slightly above the fly with a bowl-shaped palm. Move up quickly and clench your fist slightly as you grab the fly. Follow these diagrams for more detailed instructions.
If you don’t want to have fly guts all over your skin, you can fold one or both arms lightly instead of clapping or clenching a fist. Another alternative to crushing is to keep a spray bottle of water handy to spray during flight. It is likely (but not guaranteed) that you will temporarily immobilize them rather than kill them, allowing you to move them back to where they belong.