How to do the new sweep attack in minecraft 1.9?

Solution 1:

In order to do the sweep attack, you must be in 1.9 (obviously) and be standing still or holding shift. The attack cool down must also be full in order to do a sweep attack. Sprinting and attacking at the same time will stop you from being able to do a sweep attack.

Solution 2:

You have to go into your Minecraft settings, and then go to video settings, and then their should be a setting called: ATTACK Indicator. Click this until it shows up as On. Once it shows up as on, close your settings and get back into your game.

If you click with a weapon, you will see a little sword on your cross-hair(the thing in the middle of your screen)this is the cool-down for swinging a sword. It will fill up after you swing, and once it fills up completely, you can swing your sword again. you can swing your sword while the cool-down is happening, but it will NOT do the sweep unless it is cooled down all the way.

Long story short, just swing your sword at the enemy and it will do the sweep attack. xD