The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for reducing off-track writes in a data storage device. In one embodiment, a command is received to perform a write operation using a write head at a first location on a disk surface. A determination is made as to whether to perform or inhibit the write operation using an equation having a tunable acceleration coefficient. The equation is used to predict a position error signal (PES) value for a write head at a servo sector that immediately circumferentially follows the first location (i.e., there are no intervening servo sectors between the servo sector and the first location). If the predicted PES value is outside of (e.g., greater than or less than) a predetermined threshold, an off-track write is likely to occur and the write operation is inhibited.