When it comes to fighting, some attacks are gonna need more or less anticipation. A quick jab has little to no anticipation, so how do we make it more impactful?

Using a technique referred to as overshoot.

By stretching his arm farther than it’s actual size, the punch seems a lot more impactful. Games like Street Fighter 3rd Strike use this technique a lot on characters such as Dudley or Makoto
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/1d/81/b21d815a870c32b354969068c6c2c3f6.gif http://wiki.shoryuken.com/images/9/91/%28dudleycrco%29.gif

Add some dash effects and an after image to heighten the sense of speed.

I recommend watching this video from an Animator of Skullgirls at GDC. It’s really informative. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw0h9WmBlsw