This Italian tapered rolling pin is the traditional tool for rolling out pizza doughs and sheets of hand-made pasta.

When using this rolling pin rest your flat palms at both ends of the rolling pin and guide it rather than gripping it and forcing it. 

Many people would say that having a tapered rolling pin allows you to roll the dough more thinly than a common, handled rolling pin. 
​This is why they are preferred for making hand made pasta.