Professional baseball player Lefty Gomez once said, "I'd rather be lucky than good." In the martial arts, it is the other way around. We'd rather be good than to rely on luck.
To be good one needs training - they have to put forth the effort. Putting the time in is what allows us to be "good" or in other words to be in the right place at the right time.
The guy in the picture above probably caught a few things in his time allowing him to reach out and block that bat. However, I would argue that if he trained himself, he could've caught that bat rather than just deflect it. If he had caught it, the crowd would have gone crazy and then everyone would be praising that one incredible feat.
Furuya Sensei used say, "The Way is in training." He didn't say the Way is in being lucky. It doesn't matter what martial art one does, training is the martial art. We train day in and day out for just that one similar occasion so that our training can take over and we can shine, but the only reason why we do so is because we put in the time. When teachers say that a student is good, what they really mean is that they do the right thing at the right time. To know what the right thing and the right time is takes an immense amount of training.
If a student wants to be great at something then they need training - they need to put in the effort. How does one expect to be great if they decide to skip class? Timing is, as they say, "everything" and therefore everything requires training.
Photo source: https://twitter.com/Hornerfoto1