When I sit principal, I feel I take on the responsibility to do accurate counting and always be correct.
When I have a lot of bars to count, in addition to counting the 1234,2234, 3234 style, I'll use my fingers to count in groups of 5. I just hold my hand against the shoulder of the bass and add pressure to each digit. The audience doesn't see any movement.
If it is a really long rest, like 56 measures that's not broken up by rehearsal letters or cue notes, I'll keep track of the groups of 10 with the digits on my right hand on the bow. So bar 23 would be thumb and index finger on my right and thumb, index and middle fingers on my left hand.
Also, I'll listen for the phrase structure and featured instrument parts and write in my own cue notes.
As for being precise with pizzicati as a group, if the conductor is gushing over the melody instead of allowing the soloist to do their thing while making the accompaniment as precise as possible like they should be doing, you need to watch the conductor's style to see exactly where the ictus occurs.
Find out what instrument they play. The playing style of the instrument affects the movement of their arm and body.
A conductor who is a pianist (most are) or percussionist, the beat will actually be with an up-flick of the tip of the baton with a rise of the elbow and a bend of the wrist just before the beat.
A string player is easy to follow. Just match your arm to the bow arm.
A wind player will be breathing with the music so watch the mouth and ribcage area.
If the conductor is bad, I know it's really rare
but it sometimes happens, I do more preparatory body language while leading the section and tell the players to watch me for my upbeat sniffs, elbow movements, etc.
