91 honda accord...Sluggish Start

I need to know if I have a whole in my resonator, will that make the car sluggish starting off from 1st gear.  I get a slight hesitation when I take off from first gear and clears up once I get to 4th gear.  The car is very sluggish.  I have to wait late to shift the car.  Can some tell me what causes the car to act sluggish when taking off from first gear.  The car shifts fine.  Please give any suggestions!

does the engine continue to rev but the car isn't accelerating like it should?

No!  It sort of spudders and then takes off.

You could have fouled spark plugs, your fuel injection could be going bad, clogged fuel filter (which if it's never been changed in the past 16 years, could be very likely), incorrect timing, or maybe even a leak in the intake manifold.