Anticipation

Definition: "Anticipation" is pretty much what it sounds like: that brief moment of anticipatory motion that precedes an action. It's a crucial animation technique to make motion more believable; for instance, if an animated character is going to punch something, you wouldn't animate their fist flying forward straight from the mark. Instead they'd draw back in the opposite direction, that moment of anticipation, gathered kinetic energy - and then throw the punch forward.