What is the secret of UCLA’s success? A question that is on everyone’s mind. And with back-to-back wins in their last two matches, Jordan Chiles and co. have made quite the comeback. Despite losing two matches on home turf, they returned with a 4-0 win over the last two; things are looking better. But with the threat of facing Illinois coming on January 25th, things still look good. And the secret behind that?

Well, Katelyn Rosen, Jordan Chiles’s teammate at the Bruins, may have spilled the secret. In her interaction with Daily Bruin, she said, “The focus isn’t on the other teams. The focus is on what we are going to do.” Nonetheless, there may have been a few more secret elements contributing to their success. Katelyn brought the attention to one. Meanwhile, coach Janelle McDonald revealed one. Want to know? 

UCLA Bruins’ coach sheds light on a few basic things 

The plan seems simple. Success on the uneven bar schedule! On January 18, Jordan Chiles posted a 10 on the uneven bars routine. It was the second 10 scored in this ongoing college gymnastics season. But it’s not just her. Three other gymnasts also stood tall on the routine against Maryland. Frida Esparza claimed 9.900, whereas Macy McGowan sealed 9.850 on the uneven bars.

And Maryland had no answer for this firepower. They stood at 49.250 against the Bruins’ 49.325. But the question is, how did the UCLA gymnasts pull off everything? Did Janelle McDonald have any answers behind the secret responsible for practically keeping the upper hand in the uneven bars event? Yes, she did. 

In UCLA Athletics’ YouTube podcast, the veteran coach unveiled the secret. She said, “We’re working on trying to get the details dialed in. We have a lot of people ready to go and compete and so they’re competing hard every day to show consistency, to show those details that are dialed in so that we can hopefully put it all together at a competition.” The formula has worked lately to push the score to an upper level this season, and the credit goes to the gymnasts. 

Capitalizing on that, Janelle McDonald said, “I feel like the team is really strong on bars this year, more so than we’ve had kind of in the past couple of years and so I’m excited to see the growth that they have this season there and‌ you know where it’s going to take us.” But motivation is another part, meant to combine with the strategy to make everything smooth sailing. How’s that working for the UCLA Bruins? 

Jordan Chiles has a vital role to play in the mix 

All gymnastics duels are not meant to go the same. The UCLA Bruins’ head coach knows that part of the truth so well. So does she have any strategy to embrace both the positive and negative results in the same mood? Eventually, Janelle claimed, “Every week we’re turning the page on what happened last weekend, focusing on what we can control in front of us and the opportunity in front of us and really making those little adjustments as we go throughout the season.”

But such a hefty process does need everyone’s inclusion and remaining on the same page. Jordan Chiles has been a factor in keeping the team on a single thread this season. Bruins’ coach acknowledged her contribution to that. However, this time, she extended her thanks to the entire team for the success. 

In the interaction, she added, “I would say our team’s done a really good job of that. You know, like I was saying earlier, our first meet didn’t quite go as planned how we had trained for and, the way that they were able to take the positives away from it and learn from the things that didn’t go our way was really inspiring to see.” As per her, the combined resilience has been a key factor in breaking the shackles this season, coming with the initial losses. 

But will this feel-good moment continue for Jordan Chiles or will things be different? Only time will tell.