When I was learning side hops with the pedal kick, I found it really difficult to come to terms with the upwards, rather than forwards motion. The thing that helped me get the move dialled was to first learn gaps to front wheel. Once I had gaps to front on lock, I started to face further away from the object I wanted to hop up, forcing the gap to front into a side hop move. This really helped me to understand the weight transfer, dunno if it will work for you but keep at it because once you do get it, nailing the big hops (100cm+) is a lot of fun