Well, that’s exactly what happens when more pinches are formed. The total current has to provide a high enough intensity to each pinch. This can be done if the current is high enough and it is quite constant during the formation of pinches. The pinches would then be hot even if the plasma sheath were not moving at the same speed, as long as the plasma feeding each pinch arrives at the same time. Since the pinches separate due to plasma instabilities, how could the distance at which they form be estimated? On the other side, the number of pinches may also depend on the current intensity, which is a factor in plasma instabilities.
