how do I stop topping the golf ball

Hit it in the middle (the equator!) It is not that hard to hit it right!

Have someone watch how you swing the club or driver. Make sure that you are coming in with the club head swinging upward.

no one knows..

lifting of the head on the downswing, your arms being bent at impact, not enough fiber in your diet.

Switch to the Stack and tilt swing. Have not topped it once since switching.

l suspect you are doing what l occasionally do - hit from the top and lose rhythm. You can get away with this fault off a tee but it is when you are hitting irons or fairway woods that the fault comes to the fore.
l have tried cocking my wrist earlier in the back swing, and mirroring this action in my follow through. l find that it is when l start losing confidence that these faults emerge.

Most people that I've seen top the ball have a reverse C backswing (you lean towards the target versus turning around ur spine) and/or straighten out their right leg on the back swing. Both moves cause u to stand taller on ur backswing than u were at address. Therefore when u return to address, u hit on top of the ball instead of hitting down on the ball.

Try hitting 3/4 shots (left arm does not extend beyond parallel to the ground, this will minimize ur reverse c) focusing on keeping ur right leg flexed & keeping ur eye on the ball through impact.

Keep your arms bent at impact. You might have the ball a little forward in your stance too.

If you are topping either you have it way too far forward in your stance or you are reverse pivoting taking your front swing right over the ball. Place the ball a little further back in your stance at address and see if that cures the topping.

stop hitting the top of the golf ball. l would have to say without seeing ur swing, ur head is either pulling out (up) & not staying down on contact or u have a lot of movement with ur body (e.i. bobbing up & down). Try keeping ur head down & do not even watch where the ball goes until u r almost finished with ur follow through & see if that helps. You can also practice purposely trying to take a divot, which will help u swing down behind the ball. Once u begin making successful contact & not topping the ball, then u can work on ur next problem. Is not this a great game??

Angle of Attack is the issue. spend some time mastering the steepness and shallowness of the swing. Jump in the bunker and master divot control. try 1 - 200 swings atleast. Become a grand master at divot depth control.

Then just play around with ball position. You will find a nice spot to collect the ball followed by divot. Good Luck.

I've given hundreds of lessons to fix this problem, & here is how to better understand the problem, which, in turn, will make it easier to solve the problem.

You r not 'picking' ur head up or 'lifting' it up. You're likely just getting taller at some point during the golf swing from the start of ur swing to impact.

A couple of things can cause u to get taller in ur swing from when u start ur swing to when u reach the impact position. Straightening ur right knee during the backswing (for righties) can make u taller, for example. If u set up to the ball with a slight knee flex & naturally hanging (but straight, just like when u stand up normally) down vertically, this is really the only thing that can cause the top, other than a sudden flinch at the ball at impact.

If u focus on maitaining the flex in the right knee from the start of the swing to the top of ur backswing, u will be just fine. Remember, stay the same height throughout ur swing if possible. If that does not work, imagine ur sternum (or the button on ur golf shirt) staying the same height thruout ur entire swing.

For fat shots, usually the opposite happens, where u get shorter or tend to squat b4 u get back to impact.

Annika Sorenstam lifts her head before she gets to the impact position with every swing she makes, & she still hits the ball just fine.

So to summarize:

1. Stay the same height, hit it solid.
2. Get taller from start to impact, & hit it thin, or top it
3. Get shorter from start to impact, & hit it fat, or chunk the hell out of it.

l hope this helps!