I was just thinking... seems it would be a logical strategy to exploit the opponents short height and just kick it over their head into the goal. But you don't see it a lot in U8. Is this because the kids just can't pull it off? I'm thinking of that being the next thing I work on with my kid. Just lobbing/chipping over the defenders and goalie's head. There's quite a gap above the keepers reach in the goal. My kid did have a goal where he did this, though I don't know it was deliberate or a "happy accident", but physically I don't see any reason he couldn't learn to do it consistently. Or would this be too "ungentlemanly"?
Chipping a keeper is a legit thing and a good thing for an attacker to be able to do. But -- and this is just my opinion, so take it FWIW -- I wouldn't think about this or any other thing your son can pick up along the way as a tool to be applied in a given situation. Over the next few years you'll likely see the keepers start to fill up that space and, as some become real goalkeepers and learn how to play back there, popping the ball over the keeper will become less relevant as a way beat them (not irrelevant -- my teenage son scored one last year by flicking the ball over an onrushing keeper -- but certainly not a regular thing). What won't go away, though, is comfort on the ball. Looking back, time spent with a ball and increasing the comfort level and ability to improvise something on the fly whether dribbling, receiving a pass, making a pass, taking a shot, ..., is the thing that's benefitted my son and most of the kids he's played with the most (alongside maybe vision -- learning to play with your head up, looking around all the time when you don't have the ball -- and the ongoing process of figuring out what you do the 90 percent-plus of the time you don't personally have the ball). Learning to chip the ball when that makes sense (and doing it without really thinking about it, just doing it) is one of those things that comes with that comfort level on the ball. Being able to strike a ball cleanly with the various surfaces of your foot is a big part of it, too (lots of other skills, of course, too many to list). Just my two cents ...
Focus first on proper technique when striking the ball. No different than golf. There is a reason 115lb women in the LPGA can drive a ball consistently 275 yards. They have proper technique. I see plenty of boys at U15 who still cannot strike the ball cleanly with their main foot, but do everything else well.
Reminds me -- really encourage work with the off foot, too. Truly two-footed players, at least in my experience, are the exception, even into the high school years. And once they start using the off foot, it isn't that hard to learn to be comfortable with it (I developed a decent left foot out of necessity in my 40s after injuring my right ankle). Also (gripe on the way from the parent of a lefty), in my experience, left-footed players are singled out by coaches for lack of an off foot far more than right-footed players.
@TheKraken My kid's striking form is quite good for his age. We started working on it when he was maybe 4. He has good accuracy and also good power. But of course the types of shots he can do is limited naturally as he's still so young. But I'm thinking of the next type of shot to add to the arsenal is a chip or lob over the keeper. It seems that this would be a useful shot for this age group. An easy exploit I guess you could say. Even when the keeper has his hands extended there is still a 2 or 3 feet gap. When I played with my kid I used to lob it over his head but then I stopped because I felt it was too unfair. But probably it's not unfair in a game of kids? Well... we'll start working on it and see how it goes.
DS has a decent left foot. It's more close range shots that he uses it for, can't shoot with power with it yet. But he scores a decent number of goals and makes some passes with his left which is good I think for his age. That's great that you got good with your left later in life; proof that anyone can do it with enough patience and practice. I did the same when I injured my leg.
Then he has a good basis. Touch shots are something that comes with good technical ability. If you can create enough space or know how to find the space, then you can do what you want. Space is the key though. Technicality is more than just dribbling. It's also touch, passing, shielding, and shooting,
After trying to practice a chip shot with my kid it seems the he's just too young to grasp it. It's not that it's a hard shot, but it does require some nuance in how the foot hits the ball. No worries, it can wait.
I remember some small thing -- striking the ball with the laces, maybe? -- that I tried to get my son and his teammates at about age 6 or 7 to work on in a practice, and most of the kids just weren't there yet. It was eye-opening for me. I knew kids were all over the place in terms of physical development, but really seeing it and seeing how frustrated it made some of them clarified some things about what I could work on as a group to keep as many as possible engaged and what needed to wait.
Can't stress this enough, being two footed is huge. Even if not in soccer, my oldest gave up his senior year since he didn't want to play in college, but he decided to play rugby for fun. Because he could hit the ball from 45 yards with either foot, they went undefeated until the state title game. Being two footed is invaluable.