My dive start needs work.

Question
I swim at high school level, and I need help with my dive. Whenever I do a dive start for swimming, my knees bend back towards my rear. I try to keep my legs tight to try to keep my knees from buckling backwards, but I cant control them, it makes me dive deep instead of out.
help?

Answer
Hi jp!
A dive start takes a lot of practice and work so do not feel bad about diving deep at first. You need to focus on your posture above all and what goes through your mind before the starter beeps. depending on what is most comfortable.. place one foot at the front of the starting lock with toes almost over the rim and the other foot further back (the back foot should be your strongest, for me thats my right)Bend the torso towards the water slightly and arms should be parallel with your ears and holding the starting blocks rim to push off of. As soon as that whistle blows your arms fling up into stream-line position with your arms touching your ears and your face down... it is a push of, not a fall.. so use those legs to shove you forward into the water with all your might. The goal is to get the furthest you can without exerting a lot of energy. I have added a youtube video that will show you a basic start.. do not listen to the critiques at the bottom it is good enough to learn from, you are not trying to be Michael Phelps or anything. Just high School team captain like me :) just kidding. Let me know if this helps.. also you can try doing little starts off the side of the deck instead of automatically starting on a high block.
Thanks!
-Jessica