Actually it was only AD&D illustrations that showed the morning star as a ball and chain. The rulebooks themselves described the morning star as a kind of spiked mace. The ball and chain is actually an uncommon type of flail, and not a morning star at all.
A morning star made by a professional weaponsmith will be a 4 foot long wooden shaft topped with a metal head covered with spikes. The head itself may be round, oval, or cylindrical, but almost all of them will have an extra long point at the top for thrusting. The weighted, spiked head allowed for a much more damaging swing than a standard club.
The standard morning star was very popular among foot soldiers, due to its ease of use, and high damage potential. While some horsemen would use a shorter handled morning star, which was great for bashing in the helmets of foot soldiers.
This weapon is a descendant of the mace, which in turn is a descendant of the simple, yet noble, club. It traces its name from the Swiss "Morgenstern", which is literally "morning star". The morning star was used most frequently in 16th and 17th century England, where it was also called a "Holy Water Sprinkler".