Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate estimating transmit covariance from evaluation of a channel (e.g., forward link channel, reverse link channel, . . . ) to be utilized in linear precoding for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication systems. Predefined codebooks that include any number of precoding matrices may be modified based upon transmit covariance estimations to yield improved precoding performance. Further, channel related feedback may be generated and analyzed by utilizing the modified codebooks.