A disk drive is disclosed including a disk, a spindle motor operable to rotate the disk, a head, and a voice coil motor (VCM) operable to actuate the head over the disk, wherein the VCM comprises a voice coil. The disk drive further comprises a capacitor, and a back electromotive force (BEMF) voltage generator operable to generate a BEMF voltage from the spindle motor. The disk drive further comprises switching circuitry operable to connect the voice coil to the capacitor while accelerating the VCM, and to disconnect the voice coil from the capacitor and connect the voice coil to the BEMF voltage while decelerating the VCM.