The side stroke is not used as much as it once was. Most people only use or consider the side stroke as the stroke you use to rescue someone.
Before the invent of the freestyle stroke, the side stroke was one of the most used strokes.
It’s a relaxing stroke where your face is normally out of the water, making it easy to breath while performing it.
The kick used is the scissor kick. The scissor kick is a strong kick that gives a good amount of propulsion.
If you have trouble staying on your side, try only practicing the kick while keeping your arm straight out in front of you. You’ll soon learn how to balance your body in that position.
If you’ve been following the order on the Learn to swim page, then you should already be capable of doing the Combat Side Stroke. The balance on the side is pretty much the same. Now you just need to get the timing of the stroke down.
How to do the Side Stroke video: