Power patterns in the frequency domain are usually used to describe the antenna performance in narrowband communication systems; however, they are not sufficient for ultra wideband (UWB) antennas in wideband communication systems. In this paper, energy pattern and energy gain are introduced to describe the performance of UWB antennas. Numerical simulations and measurements are used to demonstrate the difference between power patterns and energy patterns for narrowband Yagi-Uda antenna, UWB CPW–fed bow-tie slot antenna, and UWB comb taper slot antenna. The results of simulations and measurements are agreement not only in energy pattern, but also in received voltage at various observation angles. For narrowband antennas, the energy patterns are similar to that of the power patterns in the main beam region. However, there are quite differences between power pattern in frequency domain and energy pattern in time domain for UWB antennas.